Urocyon

Last updated

Urocyon [1]
Temporal range: 10.3–0  Ma
Urocyon.png
Gray and island fox
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Genus: Urocyon
Baird, 1857 [3]
Type species
Canis virginianus [4]
Schreber, 1774 [5]
Species

Urocyon (Greek: "tailed dog" [7] ) is a genus of Canidae which includes the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the island fox (Urocyon littoralis). [1] These two fox species are found in the Western Hemisphere. Whole genome sequencing indicates that Urocyon is the most basal genus of the living canids. [8] [ failed verification ] Fossils of what is believed to be the ancestor of the gray fox, Urocyon progressus , have been found in Kansas and date to the Upper Pliocene, [9] with some undescribed specimens dating even older. [10]

Contents

Extant species

Genus Urocyon Baird, 1857 – two species
Common nameScientific name and subspeciesRangeSize and ecologyIUCN status and estimated population
Gray fox

Grey Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus).jpg

Urocyon cinereoargenteus
(Schreber, 1775)
Southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America (Venezuela and Colombia), excluding the mountains of northwestern United States
Leefgebied grijze vos.JPG
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 LC 


Island fox

Urocyon littoralis (Island fox) FWS 001.jpg

Urocyon littoralis
(Baird, 1857)

Six subspecies
Channel Islands (off the coast of Southern California)
Subspecies of island fox.png
Size:

Habitat:

Diet:
 NT 


Extinct species

Species name Type specimen era and location [6]
U. citrinusTedford et al., 2009. Early Irvingtonian, Citrus County, Florida.
U. galushaiTedford et al., 2009. Late Blancan, San Simon Valley, Graham County, Arizona.
U. minicephalusMartin, 1974. Late Irvingtonian, Sumter County, Florida.
U. progressusStevens, 1965. Early Blancan, Meade County, Kansas. A later review found that the material represents Urocyon, but because of its fragmentary nature cannot be diagnosed as to species. [6]
U. webbiTedford et al., 2009. Middle Hemphillian, Citrus County, Florida.

Cozumel fox

The Cozumel fox is a critically endangered or extinct small gray fox found on the island of Cozumel, Mexico. The last reported sighting was in 2001, but surveys focusing on this species have not yet been carried out. [11]

The Cozumel fox has not been scientifically described, but is a dwarf form as is the island fox, but slightly larger being up to three-quarters the size of the gray fox. No skins or complete skulls of the Cozumel fox exist in any museum exhibitions, so scientists have mainly examined sub-fossils collected during archaeological excavations of Mayan civilizations who inhabited the island about 1,500–500 years ago. Upon evaluating bones from about 12 adult individuals, scientists have concluded that the Cozumel fox is extremely small – approximately 60-80% the body size of other mainland specimens. [12]

The fox had been isolated on the island of Cozumel for at least 5,000 years, and probably far longer. This would indicate that Urocyon had colonized the island before the first arrival of humans there. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canidae</span> Family of mammals

Canidae is a biological family of dog-like carnivorans, colloquially referred to as dogs, and constitutes a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid. The family includes three subfamilies: the Caninae, and the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. The Caninae are known as canines, and include domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals and other species.

Subspecies of <i>Canis lupus</i>

There are 38 subspecies of Canis lupus listed in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World. These subspecies were named over the past 250 years, and since their naming, a number of them have gone extinct. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf.

<i>Vulpes</i> Genus of the sub-family Caninae

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.

<i>Dusicyon</i> Extinct genus of carnivores

Dusicyon is an extinct genus of South American canids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal fox</span> Species of carnivore

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South American fox</span> Genus of carnivores

The South American foxes (Lycalopex), commonly called raposa in Portuguese, or zorro in Spanish, are a genus from South America of the subfamily Caninae. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to wolves and jackals than to true foxes; some of them resemble foxes due to convergent evolution. The South American gray fox, Lycalopex griseus, is the most common species, and is known for its large ears and a highly marketable, russet-fringed pelt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gray fox</span> Species of canid

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 sister to all other living canids. Its species name cinereoargenteus means "ashen silver".

<i>Lontra</i> Genus of carnivores

Lontra is a genus of otters from the Americas.

<i>Nyctereutes</i> Genus of carnivores

Nyctereutes is a genus of canid which includes only two extant species, both known as raccoon dogs: the common raccoon dog and the Japanese raccoon dog. Nyctereutes first entered the fossil record 5.5 million years ago (Mya) in northern China. It was one of the earliest canines to arrive in the Old World. All but two species became extinct before the end of the Pleistocene. A study suggests that the evolution of Nyctereutes was influenced by environmental and climatic changes, such as the expansion and contraction of forests and the fluctuations of temperature and precipitation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sechuran fox</span> Species of carnivore

The Sechuran fox, also called the Peruvian desert fox or the Sechuran zorro, is a small South American species of canid closely related to other South American "false" foxes or zorro. It gets its name for being found in the Sechura Desert in northwestern Peru.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Side-striped jackal</span> Canine native to Africa

The side-striped jackal is a canine native to central and southern Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hoary fox</span> Species of carnivore

The hoary fox or hoary zorro, also known as raposinha-do-campo in Brazil, is a species of zorro or "false" fox endemic to Brazil. Unlike many other foxes, it feeds primarily on small invertebrates such as insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South American gray fox</span> Species of carnivore

The South American gray fox, also known as the Patagonian fox, the chilla or zorro gris, is a South American species of Lycalopex in the Canidae family, which includes dogs, wolves, jackals, coyotes and foxes, among other canids. It is endemic to the southern parts of Argentina and Chile, primarily Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corsac fox</span> Species of carnivore

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".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cozumel coati</span> Subspecies of carnivore

The Cozumel coati, or Cozumel Island coati, is a coati from the Mexican island of Cozumel, in the Caribbean Sea. It is in the family Procyonidae, which also includes raccoons, olingos, and kinkajous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cozumel raccoon</span> Species of critically endangered raccoon

The Cozumel raccoon is a critically endangered species of island raccoon endemic on Cozumel Island off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. It is sometimes also called the pygmy raccoon, dwarf raccoon, Cozumel Island raccoon, and Cozumel raccoon bear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caninae</span> Subfamily of carnivores

Caninae is the only living subfamily within Canidae, alongside the extinct Borophaginae and Hesperocyoninae. They first appeared in North America, during the Oligocene around 35 million years ago, subsequently spreading to Asia and elsewhere in the Old World at the end of the Miocene, some 7 million to 8 million years ago.

<i>Xenocyon</i> Extinct subgenus of carnivores

Xenocyon is an extinct group of canids, either considered a distinct genus or a subgenus of Canis. The group includes Canis (Xenocyon) africanus, Canis (Xenocyon) antonii and Canis (Xenocyon) falconeri that gave rise to Canis (Xenocyon) lycanoides. The hypercarnivorous Xenocyon is thought to be closely related and possibly ancestral to modern dhole and the African wild dog, as well as the insular Sardinian dhole.

A unique and diverse albeit phylogenetically restricted mammal fauna is known from the Caribbean region. The region—specifically, all islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion—has been home to several families found nowhere else, but much of this diversity is now extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mackenzie River wolf</span> Subspecies of carnivore

The Mackenzie River wolf or Mackenzie Arctic Wolf is a subspecies of gray wolf which is found in Canada's southern portion of Northwest Territories. Not much has been published on Canis lupus mackenzii but one of the most comprehensive studies was done in 1954 by W.A. Fuller, Wolf Control Operations, Southern Mackenzie District, Canada Wildlife Service Report. This wolf is recognized as a subspecies of Canis lupus in the taxonomic authority Mammal Species of the World (2005).

References

  1. 1 2 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. 582–583. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. "Fossilworks: Urocyon".
  3. Baird, S. 1857. Reports of explorations and surveys, to ascertain the most practicable and economical route for a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. vol.8(1):121, 138. Vulpinae
  4. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  5. Schreber, Johann Christian Daniel; Goldfuss, Georg August; Wagner, Andreas Johann (1774). Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen. Vol. 3. p. 361. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.67399.( The mammals in illustrations according to nature, with descriptions)
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Tedford, Richard H.; Wang, Xiaoming; Taylor, Beryl E. (2009). "Phylogenetic systematics of the North American fossil Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History . 325: 1–218. doi:10.1206/574.1. hdl:2246/5999. S2CID   83594819.
  7. Urocyon.
  8. Lindblad-Toh, K.; Wade, C.M.; Mikkelsen, T.S.; Karlsson, E.K.; Jaffe, D.B.; Kamal, M.; et al. (2005). "Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog". Nature. 438 (7069): 803–819. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..803L. doi: 10.1038/nature04338 . PMID   16341006.
  9. Stevens, M.S. (1965). "A new species of Urocyon from the Upper Pliocene of Kansas". Journal of Mammalogy. 46 (2): 265–269. doi:10.2307/1377846. JSTOR   1377846.
  10. Prevosti, F.J.; Rincóon, A.D. (2007). "A new fossil canid assemblage from the late Pleistocene of northern South America: The canids of the Inciarte asphalt pit (Zulia, Venezuela), fossil record and biogeography". J. Paleontol. 81 (5): 1053–1065. doi:10.1666/pleo05-143.1. hdl: 11336/242701 . S2CID   131259363.
  11. Cuarón, Alfredo D.; Martinez-Morales, Miguel Angel; McFadden, Katherine W.; Valenzuela, David & Gompper, Matthew E. (2004). "The status of dwarf carnivores on Cozumel Island, Mexico". Biodiversity and Conservation. 13 (2): 317–331. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.511.2040 . doi:10.1023/B:BIOC.0000006501.80472.cc. S2CID   25730672.
  12. 1 2 Gompper, M.E.; Petrites, A.E.; Lyman, R.L. (2006). "Cozumel Island fox (Urocyon sp.) dwarfism and possible divergence history based on subfossil bones". Journal of Zoology . 270 (1): 72–77. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00119.x. ISSN   1469-7998.