Urocyon

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Urocyon[1]
Gray Fox
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Genus: Urocyon
Baird, 1857
Type species
Canis virginianus
Schreber, 1775
(= Canis cinereo argenteus Schreber, 1775)
Species

Urocyon cinereoargenteus
Urocyon littoralis
Urocyon progressus

The genus Urocyon is a genus contains two (or possibly three) living Western Hemisphere foxes in the family Canidae, the Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the closely-related Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis) which is a dwarf cousin of the Gray Fox;[1] as well as one fossil species, Urocyon progressus.[2] They are, excluding the Raccoon Dog, the only canids able to climb trees. Urocyon is one of the oldest fox genera still in existence. A third species, apparently close to extinction or even already extinct, is (or was, until recently) found on the island of Cozumel, Mexico.[3] The Cozumel Fox, which has not been scientifically described to date, is a dwarf form like the Island Fox but a bit larger, being up to three-quarters the size of the Gray Fox.[4]

[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. ^ Prevosti, F.J., & Rincóon, A.D. (2007). "A new fossil canid assemblage from the late Pleistocene of northern South America: the canids of the Inciarte asphalt pit (Zulia, Venezuela), fossil record and biogeography". J. Pal. 81 (5): 1053–1065. 
  3. ^ Cuarón, Alfredo D.; Martinez-Morales, Miguel Angel; McFadden, Katherine W.; Valenzuela, David; & Gompper, Matthew E. (2004). "The status of dwarf carnivores on Cozumel Island, Mexico". Biodiversity and Conservation 13: 317–331. 
  4. ^ Gompper, M. E.; Petrites, A. E. & Lyman, R. L. (2006). "Cozumel Island fox (Urocyon sp.) dwarfism and possible divergence history based on subfossil bones". J. Zool. 270 (1): 72–77. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00119.x. 
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