Click to Skip Ahead
If you’ve ever seen a fox in the wild or even at the zoo, you probably thought that it looked similar to many dogs that you have seen. Some foxes look more like rodents or marsupials than domestic canines. But your standard red fox, one of the most prevalent and far-reaching carnivorous species on the planet, does look like a long, slender dog. Are they related? The answer is kind of! Let’s take a look at the fox family tree for clarification.
Animal Families
Scientists group animals according to shared ancestry and genetic characteristics, which often also result in physical similarities. These groupings make up the animal kingdom hierarchy, which includes classes, orders, families, genera, and species. Each step up becomes more specific, with species being the most specific group in the hierarchy.
When we talk about foxes, we’re actually talking about several species. Each type of fox is technically its own species. For example, there’s the common red fox (Vulpes vulpes), which is the one that you’re most likely to encounter in the wild. Other fox species include the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus), the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), and Darwin’s fox (Lycalopex fulvipes), just to name a few.
Fox Species
There are 23-25 different fox or fox-like species in total. This group is known as the Vulpini tribe. However, only 12 of them are “true” fox species in that they’re part of the genus Vulpes. Now you can see how the breakdown starts to work. There are 12 foxes, including red foxes, arctic foxes, and the Tibetan Sand foxes, that are all part of the same Vulpes genus.
As we continue down the list, each category will become broader, encompassing more animals within its boundaries. The next step down is a subfamily, the dog and fox subfamily is called Caninae. Then comes the family, which is called Canidae. Members of this family are referred to as canids.
Common Canids
If Canidae and canid sound familiar to you, it might be due to another common word that you almost certainly know: canine. Canines are known as man’s best friend, and their name comes from the family that they’re a part of, Canidae. This makes foxes and dogs closely related species. They’re part of the same family, but they’re different genera and species.
Interestingly, foxes and dogs have one more thing in common: They’ve both been domesticated by people. Recent evidence shows that foxes were domesticated by humans long ago in the Bronze Age.
Of course, dogs aren’t the only group closely related to foxes within the Canidae family that most people know. This same family also includes wolves and coyotes.
Final Thoughts
So, it turns out that foxes are indeed related to dogs. They’re sort of like distant cousins. Both are members of the Canidae family, but they’re completely separate genera and species. Still, their differences are noticeable, even in appearance. Maybe with further domestication, foxes could become man’s other best friend.
- Related Fox Read: Can You Have a Fox as a Pet?
Feature Image Credit: BlueBarronPhoto, Shutterstock
