Rüppell's fox

Rüppell's fox

Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), also called Rüppell's sand fox, is a type of fox. It lives in dry and sandy areas. You can find these foxes in desert and semi-desert places across North Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. They are well adapted to hot, dry environments.

This species was named after Eduard Rüppell, a German naturalist. Because its populations are healthy, Rüppell's fox has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. These foxes are interesting because of how they survive in tough landscapes.

Taxonomy

Rüppell's fox is closely related to the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Scientists studied its mitochondrial DNA and found it fits within the genetic lineages of the red fox. This pattern is called paraphyly. The fox may have separated from the red fox not long ago, or because of incomplete lineage sorting, or introgression of DNA between the two. Fossils suggest the last reason is most likely. Even with mixed DNA, Rüppell's fox and the red fox look and live very differently.

Description

Rüppell's fox is a small fox. It measures 66 to 74 cm (26 to 29 in) long, including its tail, which is 27–30 cm (11–12 in). Males are a little bigger than females. They usually weigh about 1.7 kg (3.7 lb).

Its fur is sandy with some brown and white. It changes from reddish on the back to white on the belly and tail tip. The head has a rusty color on the muzzle and forehead, with dark brown patches near the eyes.

This fox has large ears to stay cool in hot deserts. Its legs are beige with black hairs that get lighter towards the ends. The soles are covered with fur to help it walk on sand. The fur is soft and changes between a thicker winter coat and a thinner summer coat. Females have three pairs of mammae. Young Rüppell's foxes might look similar to fennec foxes, but their larger ears and paler fur with white tail tips help tell them apart from other foxes like red and pale foxes.

Rüppell's fox has 2n = 40 chromosomes.

Distribution and habitat

Rüppell's fox lives in the deserts of North Africa south of the Atlas Mountains. You can find this fox in Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Djibouti. It also lives in Niger, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. This fox is common in Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula, from Syria, the Palestine region, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan to Pakistan.

This fox likes sandy or rocky deserts. It can also live in places with some plants but not too much. It mostly stays near the edges of the Sahara, in mountain areas, and near oases. The places where it lives usually get between 100 and 240 mm of rain each year.

Behavior and ecology

Rüppell's foxes are mostly active during the night or at dawn and dusk. During the day, they rest in special underground homes called dens. In winter, they sometimes come out during the day. They have two types of dens: small ones for resting and larger ones for raising their babies. These larger dens are used by a pair of foxes and their little ones. They make short barks when mating and can also make other sounds like hisses and whistles. They even wag their tails like dogs!

These foxes live in their own special areas, marking them with urine. These areas are shared between a pair but are different from those of other fox pairs. The size of these areas changes depending on where they live, but they can be about 70 km². They travel far at night while looking for food, covering more than 9 km in a single night. The main animals that might try to hunt them are steppe eagles and eagle-owls.

Diet

Rüppell's foxes eat many different things depending on what they can find. In some places, they mostly eat insects like beetles, while in other places, they eat small animals, lizards, birds, and plants such as grasses, desert plants, and fruits like dates. They also sometimes eat food left by people.

Reproduction

Mating happens in November, after the female gets ready a special den for her babies. After about 52 to 53 days, she has a litter of usually two or three babies, though sometimes up to six. The baby foxes are born with their eyes closed. They become independent around four months old and may travel up to 48 km to find their own territory. In the wild, they live about seven years on average, but in safe places, they can live up to 12 years.

Subspecies

Some scientists think Rüppell's fox has no different types. Others say it has up to five subspecies. These include:

• V. r. caesia
• V. r. cyrenaica
• V. r. rueppelli
• V. r. sabaea
• V. r. zarudneyi

Philately

In 2008, on May 1, the Libyan General Posts and Telecommunications Company worked with the World Wide Fund for Nature to make special stamps for Rüppell's fox. They created four stamps, printed in small sheets. The stamps also had a special cover with a unique postmark to mark the first day of issue.