Kit Fox

About the Kit Fox

The kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) is a fox species that inhabits arid and semi-arid regions of the Southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. These foxes are the smallest of the four species of Vulpes occurring in North America and are among the smallest of the vulpines worldwide. It has also been called a North American counterpart of the fennec fox due to its large ears.

Some mammalogists classify it as conspecific with the swift fox, V. velox, but molecular systematics indicate that the two species are distinct. Interbreeding between the two species does occur where their ranges overlap (eastern New Mexico and western Texas), but this hybridization is quite restricted in scope.

Subspecific designations for the species are not fully addressed. As many as eight subspecies have been recognized, although further analyses have not found support for any subspecies differentiation. However, although there is a clear need for more subspecific clarification, most available data suggest that kit foxes in the San Joaquin Valley of California are likely to warrant a subspecific designation, V. m. mutica, due to geographical isolation, and that any other kit foxes... Wikipedia →