Fox (predator)

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Red fox

A fox is a member of the family of dogs (Canidae). In German usage, this usually refers to the red fox , more generally the genus group of real foxes .

etymology

The word fox has its origin in the Middle High German term vuhs for the male red fox ( Canis vulpes ). The related vocabulary are fuhs ( Old High German ), vos ( Dutch ) and fox ( English ). The feminine form of the word changed from Old High German voha to Middle High German vohe , Gothic faúho and Old Icelandic foa . The word Fah , which stands for female red foxes in particular and for female canids in general in the language of hunters and biologists, also has its origin in the Old High German female form.

species

The totality of the trivial called "foxes" species is not a closed community of descent ( clade ), but a group of more or less closely related species and genera of the dogs through convergent evolution outwardly resemble more or less ( polyphyly ). What all these taxa have in common , however, is a rather small growth, mostly rather short legs and a bushy tail. Many, especially tropical representatives are also characterized by relatively large ears. Traditionally, species called "foxes" are found in two generic groups of the dog family: the real foxes (Vulpini) and their sister group , the real dogs (Canini).

According to current kinship analyzes based on DNA comparisons, these traditionally endured genus groups are also not closed communities of descent. Instead, the "foxes" are divided into three clades: a gray fox clade, a red fox clade and a clade with exclusively South American wild dogs.

"Foxes" within the ancestry groups of dogs

Gray foxes

Gray fox

The only two species in the gray fox clade are the gray fox ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus ) and the island gray fox ( Urocyon littoralis ). Both are restricted to North America. The gray fox clade is the sister group of all other dogs.

Red fox clade

polar fox

The red fox clade contains Old World and North American representatives, including

  • Vulpes , with u. a.
    • Fennec or desert fox ( Vulpes zerda )
    • Kit fox ( Vulpes macrotis )
    • Arctic fox ( Vulpes lagopus , formerly also known as Alopex lagopus )
    • Red fox ( Vulpes vulpes )
  • Big Ear Fuchs ( Otocyon megalotis but) mostly in German -eared fox called

The red fox clade is the sister group of a common clade made up of wolf , coyote , jackals etc. and the South American wild dogs. This means that the red fox is more closely related to the wolf than to the gray fox.

South America clade

Andean fox

This group includes only representatives from South America, including a. the

The South American clade ( Cerdocyonina ) is the sister group of a clade that includes the wolf ( Canis lupus ) and its closest relatives ( Canina ). This means that the South American "foxes" are more closely related to the wolf than to the European red fox. The wolf clade does not contain any species with "-fuchs" as a common name component.

See also

Web links

Wiktionary: Fuchs  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

literature

  • Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Claire M. Wade, Tarjei S. Mikkelsen and 43 other authors: Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog. Nature. Vol. 438, No. 7069, 2005, pp. 803-819, doi : 10.1038 / nature04338 , pp. 815 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Günther Drosdowski, Paul Grebe and others: Duden. Etymology. Dictionary of origin of the German language. Bibliographisches Institut, Dudenverlag, Mannheim / Vienna / Zurich 1963, ISBN 3-411-00907-1 .