Editing Kit fox (section)

==Taxonomy==
Some mammalogists classify it as conspecific with the [[swift fox]], ''V. velox'',<ref name="Dragoo"/> but [[molecular systematics]] indicate that the two species are distinct.<ref name="MercureRalls1993">{{cite journal|last1=Mercure|first1=Alan|last2=Ralls|first2=Katherine|last3=Koepfli|first3=Klaus P.|last4=Wayne|first4=Robert K.|title=Genetic Subdivisions among Small Canids: Mitochondrial DNA Differentiation of Swift, Kit, and Arctic Foxes|journal=Evolution|volume=47|issue=5|year=1993|pages=1313–1328|issn=0014-3820|doi=10.2307/2410150 |pmid=28564903|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271806502|jstor=2410150}}</ref>
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.<ref name="Sheldon1992">{{cite book |last1=Sheldon |first1=Jennifer W. |title=Wild dogs: the natural history of the non-domestic Canidae |date=1992 |publisher=Academic Press |location=San Diego |isbn=9781483263694 |pages=176–182}}</ref>

Subspecific designations for the species are not fully addressed. As many as eight subspecies have been recognized,<ref name="McGrew1979"/> although further analyzes have not found support for any subspecies differentiation.<ref name="Dragoo">{{cite journal |last1=Dragoo |first1=J. W. |last2=Choate |first2=J. R. |last3=Yates |first3=T. L. |last4=O'Farrell |first4=T. P. |title=Evolutionary and Taxonomic Relationships among North American Arid-Land Foxes |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=28 August 1990 |volume=71 |issue=3 |pages=318–332 |doi=10.2307/1381942|jstor=1381942 }}</ref> 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 may be included in a second subspecies, ''V. m. macrotis''.<ref name="MercureRalls1993"/><ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" />
 	
[[File:San Joaquin Kit fox B-40-13 08 20 1993.jpg|thumb|left|San Joaquin kit fox at the California Living Museum in Bakersfield]]
===Subspecies===
The [[endangered]] [[San Joaquin kit fox]] (''Vulpes macrotis mutica'') was formerly very common in the [[San Joaquin Valley]] and through much of [[Central California]]. Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000. This subspecies is still endangered, after nearly 50 years of being on the Endangered Species List. Officially, this subspecies was listed March 3, 1967.<ref>{{cite web |title=San Joaquin Kit fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) |url=http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=A006 |publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Home Page |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015043132/https://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=A006#lifeHistory |archive-date=2011-10-15 |date=2011-10-14 |url-status=dead}}</ref>  On September 26, 2007, Wildlands Inc. announced the designation of the 684 acre (277 ha) Deadman Creek Conservation Bank, which is intended specifically to protect habitat of the San Joaquin kit fox.<ref name=enn>[http://www.enn.com/animals/article/23452 Kit fox Gets Some Protection, In California], Environmental News Network, September 27, 2007</ref> However, the population continues to decline mostly due to heavy habitat loss. Other factors include competition from [[red fox]]es and the extermination of the [[wolf]] from California, which has left the [[coyote]] as the dominant meso-predator in kit fox territory, bringing an imbalance in ecosystem relationships.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Urban Landscape Attributes and Intraguild Competition Affect San Joaquin Kit Fox Occupancy and Spatiotemporal Activity Nicole Anne Deatherage Department of Biology, California State University, Bakersfield|url=https://esrp.csustan.edu/publications/pdf/Deatherage%202020_Urban%20KF%20occupancy_CSUB%20thesis.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=San Joaquin Kit Fox {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/science-magazines/san-joaquin-kit-fox|access-date=2021-04-15|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>