Pale fox

Pale fox
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Genus:	Vulpes
Species:	V. pallida
Binomial name
	Vulpes pallida; (Cretzschmar, 1827)
	Pale fox range
Synonyms
	Canis pallidus; Vulpes pallidus; Fennecus pallidus;

Last updated May 07, 2024

The pale fox (Vulpes pallida) is a species of fox found in the band of African Sahel from Senegal in the west to Sudan in the east.^[2]^[3] It is one of the least studied of all canid species, in part due to its remote habitat and its sandy coat that blends in well with the desert-like terrain.^[4] The pale fox is distinguished by its light-colored fur and oversized ears, which enable it to excel in camouflage and survival in harsh environments.

Subspecies

There are five recognized subspecies:^[2]

Vulpes pallida pallida
Vulpes pallida cyrenaica
Vulpes pallida edwardsi
Vulpes pallida harterti
Vulpes pallida oertzeni

Description

The pale fox is a small fox, with a long body and relatively short legs and a narrow muzzle. The fur is quite thin, with a pale sandy color that turns white towards the abdomen. The back is often speckled with a blackish or a rufous coloration, with a darker mid-dorsal line. The flanks are paler than the dorsal pelage, blending into buffy-white underparts, and the legs are rufous. It has a pale face, an elongated muzzle with relatively long whiskers, and a dark ring surrounding the eye.^[6] Its sandy-colored fur offers effective camouflage within the desert landscape, blending seamlessly with the dunes and rocky terrain.^[7]

Its tail is long and bushy, with a reddish-brown color with a prominent black tip and a dark patch above the tail gland. The skull is small with a relatively short maxillary region and small sharp canine teeth.^[8] One of the most prominent features of the species, its ears, are large, and triangular compared to other foxes but such a shape is typical of a desert inhabiting canid.^[4] The ears of the pale fox play a crucial role, both in thermoregulation, by releasing heat in their typically warm habitats, and in increasing their hearing acuity to detect prey and predators.^[7]

Head and body length is 380–550 mm, tail length is 230–290 mm and weight 2.0–3.6 kg.^[6]

Distribution and habitat

Pale fox is distributed in the semi-arid Sahelian region of Africa bordering the Sahara Desert, from Mauritania and Senegal via Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad to the Red Sea. The southern border of its range extends to the savanna zones of northern Guinea.^[6] It is also present in Benin, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Mali, Niger, South Sudan and Sudan. The habitat is sandy or stony arid terrain, and the pale fox is able to relocate southwards and northwards in relation to the periodic droughts that affect these regions.^[1]

Reproduction

The pale fox, similar to other species, exhibits unique reproductive behaviors influenced by its desert environment and the challenges this poses for its young. These foxes are monogamous, often forming pair bonds with mates that can last for several breeding seasons. Typically, they breed during the cooler months, a timing that corresponds with seasonal variations in various factors, one of which being food availability.^[7]

Once mating has concluded, the female pale fox often excavates a burrow or occupies existing underground dens to birth her pups. The gestation period usually spans 50 to 60 days, and litter sizes for pale foxes typically vary from three to six pups. While larger litters are uncommon, they have been observed. Newborn pups are inherently blind and deaf immediately following birth, thus making them completely dependent on their mother. Their average life span is no more than 10 years.^[9]

Behavior and Diet

The pale fox species exhibits a vast array of behaviors and dietary preferences adapted to desert environments. These nocturnal creatures are most active during the cooler nights, avoiding the intense heat of the day. They are known for their complex communication with conspecifics, which includes vocalizations, visual displays, and scent marking to establish territories.^[7] Additionally, pale foxes engage in social grooming and playful interactions, especially within family groups. During the mating season, they are more tolerant of other individuals near their territories.^[7]

Pale foxes depend on stealth and agility to catch their prey. Typically, their prey, varied and distinctive, includes birds, reptiles, insects, and small mammals. Their diet can also consist of fruits, seeds, and carrion, which they scavenge within their desert habitat.^[10]

Ecology

The pale fox is crucial to its ecosystem, serving as both a predator and scavenger. Typically found in stony deserts and semi-deserts, it sometimes wanders into the savanna. In these habitats, the pale fox helps regulate prey populations, affecting their abundance and distribution.^[7] This regulation, in turn, indirectly influences soil and vegetation dynamics, which contributes to the health of the desert environments in which they live. In addition, pale foxes contribute to nutrient cycling and energy flow.^[3] Their predation and consumption habits lead to the redistribution of nutrients throughout their habitat, enhancing plant growth and the overall productivity of the ecosystem. They also aid in nutrient recycling by incorporating carrion and other organic waste into their diet.^[3]

The pale foxes can be considered prey to other larger predators, such as jackals, raptors, and other large carnivores, which allows them to also contribute to the food web structure of the desert environment to which they call home.^[7] They are gregarious, living in shared burrows,^[11] probably in small family groups with parents and their young. During the day they rest in dug burrows that can extend up to 15 meters long and descend up to 2 meters to the ground, at dusk they venture out and forage for food.

Status

Although the abundance of the pale fox is unknown, it seems to be a common species throughout its wide range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".^[1] However, the pale fox species is increasingly threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, and human encroachment. These challenges are compounded by the escalating threat of climate change and competition from other introduced species in the common pale fox habitats.^[7]

In response to escalating threats, numerous conservation initiatives have been undertaken to safeguard the habitats of pale foxes, while also reducing human-wildlife conflicts and enhancing awareness about the critical importance of desert biodiversity. Through the implementation of these measures, in partnership with local communities, governments, and conservation organizations, it can be ensured that the pale fox population remains robust and flourishes for years to come.^[7]

Related Research Articles

The Arctic fox, also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small species of fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in cold environments, and is best known for its thick, warm fur that is also used as camouflage. It has a large and very fluffy tail. In the wild, most individuals do not live past their first year but some exceptional ones survive up to 11 years. Its body length ranges from 46 to 68 cm, with a generally rounded body shape to minimize the escape of body heat.

Foxes are small- to medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").

The fennec fox is a small crepuscular fox native to the deserts of North Africa, ranging from Western Sahara and Mauritania to the Sinai Peninsula. Its most distinctive feature is its unusually large ears, which serve to dissipate heat and listen for underground prey. The fennec is the smallest fox species. Its coat, ears, and kidney functions have adapted to the desert environment with high temperatures and little water. It mainly eats insects, small mammals and birds. The fennec has a life span of up to 14 years in captivity and about 10 years in the wild. Its main predators are the Verreaux's eagle-owl, jackals and other large mammals. Fennec families dig out burrows in the sand for habitation and protection, which can be as large as 120 m² (1,300 sq ft) and adjoin the burrows of other families. Precise population figures are not known but are estimated from the frequency of sightings; these indicate that the fennec is currently not threatened by extinction. Knowledge of social interactions is limited to information gathered from captive animals. The fennec's fur is prized by the indigenous peoples of North Africa, and it is considered an exotic pet in some parts of the world.

Vulpes is a genus of the sub-family Caninae. The members of this genus are colloquially referred to as true foxes, meaning they form a proper clade. The word "fox" occurs in the common names of all species of the genus, but also appears in the common names of other canid species. True foxes are distinguished from members of the genus Canis, such as domesticated dogs, wolves, jackals and coyotes, by their smaller size (5–11 kg), longer, bushier tail, and flatter skull. They have black, triangular markings between their eyes and nose, and the tip of their tail is often a different color from the rest of their pelt. The typical lifespan for this genus is between two and four years, but can reach up to a decade.

The bat-eared fox is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus Otocyon and considered a basal canid species. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during the middle Pleistocene.

The kit fox is a fox species that inhabits arid and semi-arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. These foxes are the smallest of the four species of Vulpes occurring in North America and are among the smallest of the vulpines worldwide. It has also been called a North American counterpart of the fennec fox due to its large ears.

The swift fox is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America, such as Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It also lives in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, where it was previously extirpated. It is closely related to the kit fox and some mammalogists classify them as conspecific. However, molecular systematics imply that the two species are distinct. Interbreeding between the two species does occur where their ranges overlap, but this hybridization is quite restricted in scope.

The Bengal fox, also known as the Indian fox, is a fox endemic to the Indian subcontinent from the Himalayan foothills and Terai of Nepal through southern India, and from southern and eastern Pakistan to eastern India and southeastern Bangladesh.

The Cape fox, also called the asse, cama fox or the silver-backed fox, is a small species of fox, native to southern Africa. It is also called a South African version of a fennec fox due to its similarly big ears. It is the only "true fox" occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, and it retains primitive characteristics of Vulpes because it diverged early in the evolutionary history of the group.

The gray fox, or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox of the California Channel Islands, are the only living members of the genus Urocyon, which is considered to be genetically basal to all other living canids. Its species name cinereoargenteus means "ashen silver".

The Ethiopian wolf, also called the red jackal, the Simien jackal or Simien fox, is a canine native to the Ethiopian Highlands. In southeastern Ethiopia, it is also known as the horse jackal. It is similar to the coyote in size and build, and is distinguished by its long and narrow skull, and its red and white fur. Unlike most large canids, which are widespread, generalist feeders, the Ethiopian wolf is a highly specialised feeder of Afroalpine rodents with very specific habitat requirements. It is one of the world's rarest canids, and Africa's most endangered carnivore.

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The Tibetan fox, also known as the Tibetan sand fox, is a species of true fox endemic to the high Tibetan Plateau, Ladakh plateau, Nepal, China, Sikkim, and Bhutan, up to elevations of about 5,300 m (17,400 ft). It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List, on account of its widespread range in the Tibetan Plateau's steppes and semi-deserts.

Blanford's fox is a small fox native to the Middle East and Central Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

The Pampas fox, also known as grey pampean fox, Pampas zorro, Azara's fox, or Azara's zorro, is a medium-sized zorro, or "false" fox, native to the South American Pampas. Azara in some of its alternative common names is a reference to Spanish naturalist Félix de Azara.

The corsac fox, also known simply as a corsac, is a medium-sized fox found in steppes, semi-deserts and deserts in Central Asia, ranging into Mongolia and northern China. Since 2004, it has been classified as least concern by IUCN, but populations fluctuate significantly, and numbers can drop tenfold within a single year. It is also known as the steppe fox. The word "corsac" is derived from the Russian name for the animal, "korsák" (корса́к), derived ultimately from Turkic "karsak".

Rüppell's fox, also called Rüppell's sand fox, is a fox species living in desert and semi-desert regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. It is named after the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell.

The white-footed fox, also known as the desert fox, is a small, Asiatic subspecies of red fox which occurs throughout most of northwestern Indian subcontinent, Pakistan's desert districts from Rawalpindi to Rajasthan and Kutch in India, Baluchistan, southern Iran, and Iraq. It is mostly found on sand-hills or in the broad sandy beds of semi-dry rivers, and only very rarely in fields, and then in the vicinity of sandy tracts.

The African wolf is a canine native to North Africa, West Africa, the Sahel, northern East Africa, and the Horn of Africa. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. In the Middle Atlas in Morocco, it was sighted in elevations as high as 1,800 m (5,900 ft). It is primarily a predator of invertebrates and mammals as large as gazelle fawns, though larger animals are sometimes taken. Its diet also includes animal carcasses, human refuse, and fruit. They are monogamous and territorial; offspring remain with the parents to assist in raising their parents' younger pups.

References

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1 2 3 4 Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 532–628. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
1 2 3 "Pale fox (Vulpes pallida)". Canid Specialist Group. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
1 2 "Arkive - Pale fox". 2006. Archived from the original on 2011-08-10. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
↑ Darden, Cheryl. "Vulpes pallida (pale fox)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
1 2 3 Sillero-Zubiri, C. (2004). "Pale fox Vulpes pallida (Cretzschmar, 1827)". In Sillero-Zubiri, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Macdonald, D. W. (eds.). Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs : status survey and conservation action plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group. p. 199. ISBN 978-2-8317-0786-0.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Pale Fox". encyclopedia.pub. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
↑ Clutton-Brock, Juliet; Corbet, Gordon B; Hills, Michael (1976). "A review of the family Canidae, with a classification by numerical methods". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). 29: 117–199. doi: 10.5962/bhl.part.6922 .
↑ Darden, Cheryl. "Vulpes pallida (pale fox)". Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
↑ Burruss, Dylan; Matchano, Alkabouss; Frey, Jennifer K.; Andersen, Mark; Sillero-Zubiri, Claudio (December 2017). "Food habits of the pale fox ( Vulpes pallida ) in Niger". African Journal of Ecology. 55 (4): 664–671. Bibcode:2017AfJEc..55..664B. doi:10.1111/aje.12404. ISSN 0141-6707.
↑ Sheldon, Jennifer W. (1992). Wild dogs: the natural history of the non-domestic Canidae. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 182–184. ISBN 0-12-639375-3.