The South American gray fox (''Lycalopex griseus''), also known as the Patagonian fox, the ''chilla'' or ''zorro gris'' (gray fox or gray zorro), is a

South American South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of '' Lycalopex'' (the "false" or lesser foxes) in the

Canidae Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', "dog") is a family (biology), biological family of caniform carnivorans, constituting a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). The family includes three subfamily, subfamilies: the Caninae, a ...

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

, which includes dogs, wolves, jackals, coyotes and foxes, among other canids. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the southern parts of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

, primarily Patagonia.

Description

The South American gray fox is a small fox-like

canid Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', "dog") is a family (biology), biological family of caniform carnivorans, constituting a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). The family includes three subfamily, subfamilies: the Caninae, a ...

, weighing , and measuring in length including a tail of . The head is reddish-brown flecked with white. The ears are large and there is a distinct black spot on the chin. The pelage is brindled, with agouti guard hairs and a short, dense, pale undercoat. The underparts are pale grey. The limbs are tawny and the thighs are crossed by a dark bar. The long, bushy tail has a dark dorsal stripe and dark tip with a paler, mottled underside.

Range and habitat

The South American gray fox is found in

and

in the Southern Cone of South America. Its range comprises stripes on both sides of the Andes mountain range between parallels 17ºS (northernmost Chile) and 54ºS ( Tierra del Fuego). In Argentina, this species inhabits the western semiarid region of the country, from the Andean spurs (ca. 69ºW) to meridian 66ºW. South from the Río Grande, the distribution of the fox widens reaching the Atlantic coast. In Chile, it is present throughout the country. Its presence in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

has been mentioned; to date, however, there has been no confirmation of it. The South American gray fox was introduced to the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

in the late 1920s early 1930s and is still present in quite large numbers on Beaver and Weddell Islands plus several smaller islands. It was also introduced to Tierra del Fuego in 1951 to control European rabbit populations. The South American gray fox occurs in a variety of habitats, from the warm, arid scrublands of the Argentine uplands and the cold, arid Patagonian steppe to the forests of southernmost Chile.

Diet

The diet varies in different parts of its range and at different times of year. It consists mainly of mammals, birds, arthropods, bird eggs, reptiles, fruit and carrion. The main prey items seem to be small mammals, especially rodents. Fruits eaten include '' Cryptocarya alba'', '' Lithraea caustica'' and '' Prosopanche spp''.

Reproduction

The South American gray fox breeds in early austral autumn, around March. After a gestation period of two months, two to four kits are born in a den. Not much else is recorded about its lifestyle.

Interaction with environment

Urban

The South American gray fox is a largely solitary animal that has long been hunted for its pelt. The foxes sometimes go near human habitations in search of food, such as chickens and sheep, but tend to avoid areas visited by dogs. They are useful in their role as scavengers of carrion and as dispersers of the seeds of the fruit they eat.

Country

Where their ranges overlap, the South American gray fox is in competition with the larger culpeo fox. The former consumes a greater proportion of

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

s, and

arthropod Arthropods ( ) are invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. They possess an arthropod exoskeleton, exoskeleton with a cuticle made of chitin, often Mineralization (biology), mineralised with calcium carbonate, a body with differentiated (Metam ...

s make a significant portion of its diet, while the culpeo tends to consume larger prey, including the non-native European hare which has been introduced into Chile. These prey animals are partitioned between these two species, with the gray fox being excluded from the best prey territories by the larger culpeo.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q601913

South American gray fox The South American gray fox (''Lycalopex griseus''), also known as the Patagonian fox, the ''chilla'' or ''zorro gris'' (gray fox or gray zorro), is a South America, South American species of ''Lycalopex'' (the "false" or lesser foxes) in the Ca ...

Mammals of the Andes Mammals of Patagonia Mammals of Paraguay Carnivorans of Brazil Mammals of Chile Mammals of Argentina Mammals of Peru Mammals of Bolivia Least concern biota of South America

Taxa named by John Edward Gray Fauna of the Valdivian temperate forests Fauna of the Chilean Matorral