What exactly is a fox supposed to be?

Question

Could it be classed as a dog?

If so, why isn't it called a dog?

Answer 1

Take this from a lifelong fox enthusiast (see my name!) You got a lot of excerpts from web sites, so I will not repeat what they said.

Foxes fall into the ecological niche between canines (dogs) and felines (cats). They have many charactersitics of both. They are more solitary than most dogs, but more "social" than most cats. They can climb trees, but their claws do not retract. They are more omniverous than either dogs or cats, and their diet is one of the most varied of any animal. They eat rodents, carrion, seeds, nuts, fruit, bones, insects, birds, and fish. They are extremely intelligent, and have been observed problem-solving. There are 21 different species, each with its own niche. Arctic foxes have one of the most amazing blood circulation adaptations in the world... their blood almost crystallizes from cold in its extremities, but warms back up to inner core body temperature by flowing through capillaries on its way back to the heart.

They are among the most playful of all mammals. they are also crepuscular, which menas they are neither nocturnal nor diurnal, but rather are active twice a day... at sunrise and sundown. In mythology they are the creatures who live in the between worlds.

I actually bottle-fed a fox kit and raised it in my house... what an experience. they really move and think like a cross between a cat and a dog. They are, in short, amazing creatures.

Answer 2

As mentioned below, a fox is of the species and genus vulpes. A dog is of the genus and species canis familiaris.

A grey wolf is canis lupus - closer to a dog than a fox

So in answer to the second part of the question - no a fox couldn't be classified as a dog.



"Common Name: European Red Fox

Scientific Name: Vulpes vulpes

Classification:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum or Division: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Vulpes
Species: Vulpes"


"Dog:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum/Division: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus:Canis
Species: familiarus
http://darwin.nmsu.edu/~molbio/dog/Dogie4b.html

This classification is the same for all dogs, because any two dogs are able to have fertile offspring (the definition of a species), no matter what their breeds are."

Answer 3

A fox is a member of family Canidae, which includes dogs, wolves, jackals and foxes.

Foxes have a separate evolutionary ancestry to dogs and wolves and are unable to cross-breed with them. They also occupy a different ecological niche and there are many other differences.

The differentiation between species is usually obvious if you look at the scientific name (Latin name) for them.

The red fox is called Vulpes vulpes and all its closest relatives belong to the genus Vulpes e.g. Vulpes zerda which is a small desert fox called a Fennec. These are descended from a common ancestor.

Dogs meanwhile are in the genus Canis. The domestic dog is Canis familiaris, the wolf from which domestic dogs are descended is Canis lupus and the golden jackal is Canis aureus.

To find a common ancestor for both dogs and foxes you would have to delve deep into the fossil record.

Answer 4

Fox is the smallest member of the dog family, a group of intelligent, carnivorous animals. The family also includes wolves, coyotes, jackals, and of course dogs.

Answer 5

Lions and tigers are basically big cats, but we don't call them cats. Foxes are of a certain species, related to dogs, but just not called a dog.

Answer 6

Its a canine.That is it is from the dog family,but is not a dog,for which it isn't called a dog.

Answer 7

Carnivorous mammals related to the dogs and wolves.

Check the link below for a funny fox clip!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdPI50E0Zdo

Answer 8

Dogs belong to diffrent groups for eg A wolf is Lupus Lupus, and a dog is canine familaris, these are Latin names although they are all dogs they are diffrent in there make up. A fox is a kind of dog.

Answer 9

it is a member of the dog family, but it isn't a domesticated dog hence it is not called a dog.

Answer 10

Probably they can't breed with dogs any more, even though wolves, coyotes and dingoes do. It would make them a separate species, though in the dog family.