Sechuran Fox

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Sechuran Fox[1]

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Lycalopex
Species: L. sechurae
Binomial name
Lycalopex sechurae
Thomas, 1900

The Sechuran Fox (Lycalopex sechurae), also called the Peruvian Desert Fox or the Sechuran Zorro, is a South American species of canid closely related to other South American "false" foxes or zorro, of which it is the smallest. It is found in the Sechura Desert in southwestern Ecuador and northwestern Peru.[1]

Contents

[edit] Diet

The Sechuran Fox feeds opportunistically on seed pods, beetles, rodents, birds, and carrion.

[edit] Description

The Sechuran Fox weighs 4-5 kg with a body length of about 60 cm and a tail of nearly 25 cm. Its fur is gray agouti and red, and it's tail is tipped with black. It has small teeth, adapted to feed on insects and dry plants, with fox-like canine teeth.

The chromosome number is unknown, but probably 2n=74.

[edit] Behavior

This nocturnal canid spends the daylight hours in a den dug into the ground.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Wozencraft, W. C. (16 November 2005). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4. 
  2. ^ Asa, C. & Cossíos, E.D. (2004). Pseudalopex sechurae. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2007. Retrieved on 06 May 2008. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as data deficient
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