CLASSIFICATION AND TAXONOMY

Animal: Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

- Earliest fossils of members of the V. vulpes family were found in Hungary more than 1.8 million years ago. The red fox is thought to have come to North America between 75,000 and 11,000 years ago over a sheet of ice between North America into Greenland. Red foxes live in small pairs or groups and will hunt anything smaller than itself, including other foxes. Its relationship to humans has seen the red fox labeled and hunted as a pest, although the red fox greatly benefits from living near humans.

Photo from: https://www.owls.ie/red-fox

Kingdom

Animalia

- Multicellular organisms who all breath air, consume organic material, reproduce sexually, and share a similar embryotic development.

Phylum

Chordata

- Possess at some point in its life, 5 distinct characteristics:

o A notochord

o Hollow dorsal nerve cord

o Endostyle (thyroid)

o Pharyngeal slits

o A post-anal tail

Class

Mammalia

- Characterized by:

o Presence of milk producing gland to feed their young

o A neocortex region of the brain

o Fur or hair

o Three middle ear bones

Order

Carnivora

- Characterized as placental mammals that specialize in primarily eating flesh.

Family

Canidae

- Biological family of dog-like carnivorans, commonly referred to as dogs.

- Includes three subfamilies:

o Extant Caninae

o (Extinct) Borophaginae

o Hesperocyoninae

Genus

Vulpes

- Commonly referred to as “true foxes”.

- Typically smaller in size (5-11kg) with a long, bushy tail and a flatter skull than other members of the genus Canis.

- Black triangle markings between eyes and nose, and tail tips are often different colors than the rest of their fur.

Reference: Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, July 22). Red Fox. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fox