South American fox

Lycalopex[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Canidae
Tribe:	Canini
Subtribe:	Cerdocyonina
Genus:	Lycalopex; Burmeister 1854
Species
	Lycalopex culpaeus; Lycalopex fulvipes; Lycalopex griseus; Lycalopex gymnocercus; Lycalopex sechurae; Lycalopex vetulus; † Canis (Pseudalopex) australis (Kerr 1792)[2];
Synonyms
	Pseudalopex Burmeister 1856; Canis (Pseudalopex) Allen 1895;

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 related to wolves and jackals; some of them somewhat 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.

The second-oldest known fossils belonging to the genus were discovered in Chile, and date from 2.0 to 2.5 million years ago, in the mid- to late Pliocene.[3] The Vorohué Formation of Argentina has provided older fossils, dating to the Uquian to Ensenadan (Late Pliocene).[4]

Names

The common English word "zorro" is a loan word from Spanish, with the word originally meaning "fox". Current usage lists Pseudalopex (literally: "false fox") as synonymous with Lycalopex ("wolf fox"), with the latter taking precedence.[1] The IUCN, for instance, retains the use of Pseudalopex while also acknowledging Lycalopex as a legitimate alternative.[5] In 1895, Allen classified Pseudalopex as a subgenus of Canis, establishing the combination Canis (Pseudalopex), a name still used in the fossil record.[2]

Species

Species currently included in this genus include:[1]

Name	Common name	Distribution
Lycalopex culpaeus	Culpeo or Andean fox	Ecuador and Peru to the southern regions of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego
Lycalopex fulvipes	Darwin's fox	Nahuelbuta National Park (Araucanía Region), the Valdivian Coastal Range (Los Ríos Region) in mainland Chile and Chiloé Island
Lycalopex griseus	South American gray fox	Argentina and Chile
Lycalopex gymnocercus	Pampas fox	northern and central Argentina, Uruguay, eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, and southern Brazil
Lycalopex sechurae	Sechuran fox	west-central, northwestern Peru, including the Sechura Desert, and southwestern Ecuador
Lycalopex vetulus	Hoary fox	south-central Brazil
†Canis (Pseudalopex) australis		Vorohué Formation, Uquian-Ensenadan Argentina[4]

In 1914, Oldfield Thomas established the genus Dusicyon, in which he included these zorros. They were later reclassified to Lycalopex (via Pseudalopex) by Langguth in 1975.[1]

Phylogeny

The following phylogenetic tree shows the evolutionary relationships between the Lycalopex species, based on molecular analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences.[6]

Lycalopex

Lycalopex vetulus (hoary fox)

Lycalopex sechurae (Sechuran fox or Peruvian desert fox)

	Lycalopex fulvipes (Darwin's fox)

	Lycalopex gymnocercus (pampas fox)

	Lycalopex griseus (South American gray fox or chilla)

	Lycalopex culpaeus (culpeo or Andean fox)

Relationship with humans

The zorros are hunted in Argentina for their durable, soft pelts. They are also often labelled 'lamb-killers'.

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References

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. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
Canis (Pseudalopex) australis at Fossilworks.org
Lucherini, M. & Luengos Vidal, E. M. (2008). "Lycalopex gymnocercus (Carnivora: Canidae)". Mammalian Species. 820: Number 820, pp. 1–9. doi:10.1644/820.1.
Vorohuen (sic; Vorohué) Formation at Fossilworks.org
Jiménez, J. E. (2008). "Pseudalopex culpaeus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2012.old-form url
Tchaicka, Ligia; Freitas, Thales Renato Ochotorena de; Bager, Alex; Vidal, Stela Luengos; Lucherini, Mauro; Iriarte, Agustín; Novaro, Andres; Geffen, Eli; Garcez, Fabricio Silva; Johnson, Warren E.; Wayne, Robert K.; Eizirik, Eduardo (2016). "Molecular assessment of the phylogeny and biogeography of a recently diversified endemic group of South American canids (Mammalia: Carnivora: Canidae)" (PDF). Genetics and Molecular Biology. 39 (3): 442–451. doi:10.1590/1678-4685-GMB-2015-0189. PMC 5004827. PMID 27560989.