Kit fox
Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis )
The Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis ) is a fox which inhabits drier areas in western North America. From also occurring in North America, closely related swift fox he is distinguishable by its larger ears and the dark back strip. The fox was hunted especially historically because of its fur ( Kitfuchsfell ), today represents the habitat change is the strongest threat to the kind dar.
Features
The Kit Fox is one of the little foxes in North America. Striking are his large ears, which are even larger stand together closer than the closely related swift fox and. He also has a wider head, a smaller eye relief and a narrower snout. His eyes are more slit-like and less round than in the swift fox. He is 73 to 84 cm long with 26 to 32 cm long tail and can reach a weight of 1.4 -2.7kgs. The coat is short and light gray, yellowish gray head and body sides, the outer sides of the legs brownish yellow, the belly and the insides of the legs gelbweißlich. The tip of the tail is black. Between the balls of the coat is dense.
Dissemination
The Kit Fox lives in deserts and other arid regions in western North America. In the United States its range from southern California ranges over western Colorado and western Texas north to southern Oregon and Idaho. In Mexico, it occurs on the Baja California peninsula on the northern part of the states of Sonora and Chihuahua, Nuevo León to the west and south to northern Zacatecas.
Way of life
Kitfüchse occur in arid and semiarid regions, including verbuschte deserts, of Chaparral, salt plains and grasslands. Loose gravel is required to play in it to create the building. Also, agricultural areas, particularly orchards are populated and urbanized areas to a lesser extent. He was up to altitudes of 1900 m found, but generally avoids inclines of more than five percent.
Kitfüchse dig in their area of several burrows into the ground and use the burrows of other animals, eg of prairie dogs (Cynomys ) and kangaroo rats ( Dipodomys ) of ground squirrels ( Spermophilus ) and silver badgers ( Taxidea taxus ), or built by human structures.
Kitfüchse are most active in the evening and at night, feeding on seasonal of all sorts of small prey animals, especially rodents ( kangaroo rats and prairie dogs) and lagomorphs ( jackrabbits, Lepus californicus ), cottontail rabbits ( Sylvilagus ), but also birds, reptiles and insects be captured. He also takes carrion only very rarely to be plants. Only prickly pears are eaten every now and then.
Among the predators that hunt Kitfüchse include the coyote (Canis latrans ), the bobcat (Lynx rufus), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the American Badger ( Taxidea taxus ), striped ( Mephitis ) and stain Skunks ( Spilogale gracilis ) and feral domestic cats.
Reproduction
During the breeding season the Kit Fox is monogamous, but not paired with the same partner every year. The mating season of the Kitfuchses is in the winter months, ranging from mid-December into January. The female gives birth in mid-February to mid-March, after a gestation period 49-55 days, one to seven pups. The reproductive success depends on the age of the females and food supply depends. The young foxes are weaned at an age of about eight weeks, beginning with three to four months with parents looking for food and are completely independent after five to six months.
System
Kapfuchs ( V. chama )
Bengalfuchs ( V. bengalensis )
Pale fox ( V. pallida )
Afghan fox ( V. cana )
Fennec fox ( V. zerda )
Kit Fox ( V. macrotis )
Arctic fox ( V. lagopus )
Steppe fox ( V. corsac )
Tibetan fox ( V. ferrilata )
Red fox ( V. vulpes)
Rüppellfuchs (v. rueppelli )
The first scientific description of the Kitfuchses comes from Clinton Hart Merriam in 1888. Nowadays, it is classified together with eleven other species in the genus Vulpes. On the basis of morphological and molecular data, he was of Binninda - Emonds et al. 1999 as a sister species of the arctic fox ( V. lagopus ) filed and, together with this one taxon from steppe fox ( V. corsac ), Tibetan fox ( V. ferrilata ), red fox ( V. vulpes) and Rüppellfuchs (v. rueppelli ) are compared as a sister group.
In addition to the nominate Vulpes macrotis macrotis no further sub- types can be distinguished.
For a long time it was disputed whether the Kit Fox and the eastern living Swift fox (Vulpes velox ) are two different types or must be placed in a way. Protein Electrophoresis and older morphometric data ( comparison between different body measurements ) argue for a kind, while newer morphometric studies and the comparison of mitochondrial DNA on two separate species indicate. The genetic distance between the two species to the Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus ) is just as great as their distance from each other. However, both species are very similar in appearance and in their habitat requirements. Their habitat is separated by the Rocky Mountains. A small, about 100 km wide zone of hybridization exists in eastern New Mexico and western Texas.
Threat and protection
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) classified the species as " not at risk " ( Least concern ), as an acute threat for the stocks will not be accepted. In Mexico, however, it is considered endangered ( Vulnerable ).