The Pampas fox (''Lycalopex gymnocercus''), also known as grey pampean fox, Pampas zorro, Azara's fox, or Azara's zorro (in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
also called , anglicized as aguarachay, in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
also called ),
[ is a medium-sized ]zorro
Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...
, or "false" fox, native to the South American Pampas
The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...
. ''Azara'' in some of its alternative common names is a reference to Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
naturalist Félix de Azara
Félix Manuel de Azara y Perera (18 May 1746 – 20 October 1821) was a Spanish military officer, naturalist, and engineer.
Life
Félix de Azara was born on 18 May 1746 in Barbunales, Aragon. He joined the army and attended a Spanish military ...
.
Description
The Pampas fox resembles the culpeo
The culpeo (''Lycalopex culpaeus''), also known as culpeo zorro, Andean zorro, Andean fox, Paramo wolf, Andean wolf,Comparative ecology of two South American foxes, 'Dusicvon ariseus' and 'culpaeus' by Warren E. Johnson. Doctoral dissertation. Io ...
or Andean fox in appearance and size, but has a proportionately wider snout, reddish fur on the head and neck, and a black mark on the muzzle. Its short, dense fur is grey over most of the body, with a black line running down the back and onto the tail, and pale, almost white, underparts. The ears are triangular, broad, and relatively large, and are reddish on the outer surface and white on the inner surface. The inner surfaces of the legs are similar in color to the underparts, while the outer surface is reddish on the fore limbs, and grey on the hind limbs; the lower hind limb also bears a distinctive black spot. Adults range from in body length, and weigh ; males are about 10% heavier than females.
In the northern part of its range, the pampas fox is more richly colored than in the southern part.
Distribution and habitat
The Pampas fox can be found in northern and central Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
, eastern Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...
, and southern Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. It prefers open pampas habitats, often close to agricultural land, but can also be found in montane or chaco forest, dry scrubland, and wetland habitats. It is most common below elevation, but can inhabit puna grasslands up to .
Three subspecies are currently recognized, while ''L. g. gracilis'', ''L. g. domeykoanus'' and ''L. g. maulinicus'' were transferred to ''L. griseus''.
* ''L. g. gymnocercus'' - Found in the subtropical grasslands of northeastern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and eastern Brazil.
* ''L. g. lordi'' - Restricted to the Chaco-Yungas Mountain Tropical Forest in Salta and Jujuy Provinces.
* ''L. g. antiquus'' - Found in the Pampas grasslands, Monte shrublands and Espinal open woodlands of central Argentina, from Córdoba and San Luis Provinces to the Rio Negro and the Atlantic coast.
*
*
Fossils of this species are known from the late Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58[Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...](_blank)
of Argentina.[
]
Local names
In the Spanish-speaking areas of its habitat, the Pampas fox is known by the common names of ''zorro de las pampas'' or ''zorro gris pampeano''. In Portuguese-speaking Brazil, it is called by the common names of ''graxaim'' or ''sorro''.
Behavior and diet
The Pampas foxes mostly live a solitary life, but come together as monogamous pairs in the breeding season to raise their young. They are mainly nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
, becoming active at dusk, although may also be active during the day. They den in any available cavity, including caves, hollow trees, and the burrows of viscacha
Viscacha or vizcacha (, ) are rodents of two genera ('' Lagidium'' and ''Lagostomus'') in the family Chinchillidae. They are native to South America and convergently resemble rabbits.
The five extant species of viscacha are:
*The plains visc ...
s or armadillo
Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...
s.[ Even when raising young together, adult foxes generally hunt alone, marking their territory by defecating at specific ]latrine site
Animal latrines (latrine areas, animal toilets, defecation sites) are places where wildlife animals habitually defecate and urinate. Many kinds of animals are highly specific in this respect and have stereotyped routines, including approach and de ...
s. Although considerable variation is seen, the home range of a typical pampas fox has been estimated to be around .[
Pampas foxes are more ]omnivorous
An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutri ...
than most other canids, and have a varied and opportunistic diet. Their primary prey consists of bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
s, rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s, hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s, fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
, carrion
Carrion () is the decaying flesh of dead animals, including human flesh.
Overview
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures, c ...
, and insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s, although they also eat lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s, armadillo
Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...
s, snail
A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...
s and other invertebrates, lambs, and the eggs of ground-nesting birds.[ Their primary predators are pumas, domesticated dogs, and anacondas, most notably the ]yellow anaconda
The yellow anaconda (''Eunectes notaeus''), also known as the Paraguayan anaconda, is a boa species endemic to southern South America. It is one of the largest snakes in the world but smaller than its close relative, the green anaconda. No sub ...
.[
]
Reproduction
Pampas foxes breed in the early spring, with the female coming into heat
In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
just once each year. After a gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregna ...
period of 55 to 60 days, the mother gives birth to a litter of up to eight kits. The young are born between September and December, and are weaned around two months of age. Females reach sexual maturity in their first year, and animals have lived for up to 14 years in captivity.[
Pups remain in dens until at least the age of 3 months,][ when they start hunting with parents. The males bring food to their females who stay at the den with kits.
]
Threats
The main threats to the Pampas fox comes from humans hunting them for their fur,''Proyecto Zorros - Zorro gris chico (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) - Ficha Ecológica de la Especie''
to prevent them from attacking livestock, and may be affected by the loss of their natural habitat,[ although, because they remain common in most areas where they have been studied, the Pampas fox is not presently considered a threatened species.]
References
External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q832036
South American foxes
Mammals of Argentina
Mammals of Bolivia
Mammals of Brazil
Mammals of Paraguay
Mammals of Uruguay
Pampas
Least concern biota of South America
pampas fox
The Pampas fox (''Lycalopex gymnocercus''), also known as grey pampean fox, Pampas zorro, Azara's fox, or Azara's zorro (in Spanish also called , anglicized as aguarachay, in Portuguese also called ), is a medium-sized zorro, or "false" fox, na ...