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Are Rüppell's Fox and red fox related?
What is a Rüppell's Fox?
How many Rüppell's foxes are there?
Why is Rüppell's Fox nested in the red fox lineage?
Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), also called Rüppell's sand fox, is a fox species living in desert and semi-desert regions of North Africa, the Middle East, and southwestern Asia. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. [ 2 ]
- Population Threats
- Population Number
- Ecological Niche
The main threats to Rüppell's foxes are hunting and poisoning. In some parts of their range, they compete with Red foxes for resources.
According to IUCN, the Rüppell's fox is widespread throughout its range but no overall population estimate is available. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.
Rüppell's foxes play an important role in the ecosystems they inhabit because they control populations of small rodents and insects they prey on.
Rüppell’s Foxes overlap widely with Red Fox in many places, but seem to be better adapted to more arid areas that are marginal for Red Fox (Wacher and Attum 2006). Brito et al . (2009) identified probable sympatry between the two species along a relatively narrow stripe spreading from coastal southern Morocco to northern Egypt.
Rueppell’s foxes probably breed in winter, from November to January, considering related species such as fennec foxes and red foxes breed at this time. Females give birth to 2 or 3 helpless pups in March.
The paraphyletic relationship evident with mitochondrial markers could have arisen from incomplete lineage sorting between these closely related species or ancestral hybridization; however, analyses of nuclear microsatellites show no evidence of recent hybridization between red and Rüppell’s foxes (Leite et al. 2015).
Rüppell’s fox. Can be easily identified by its larger ears, making it stand out from red and pale foxes. HelmutBoehm. Emerges as one of the rarest and most enigmatic fox species globally, it inhabits the arid desert and semi-desert landscapes of northern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and southwestern Asia.
Mar 15, 2023 · One further prominent mammalian example of mitochondrial paraphyly comprises the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) (Linnaeus, 1758) and Rüppell’s fox (Vulpes rueppellii) (Schinz, 1825), which are considered sister taxa (Lindblad-Toh et al., 2005; Leite et al., 2015) and occur in sympatry in North Africa and the Middle East.
