Editing Bat-eared fox (section)

==Taxonomy and evolution==
The bat-eared fox is the only living species of the [[genus]] ''Otocyon''.<ref name="msw3" /> Its [[scientific name]], given by [[Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest]], was initially ''Canis megalotis'' (due to its close resemblance to jackals), and later changed by [[Salomon Müller]] which placed it in its own genus, ''Otocyon''; its large ears and different [[dental formula]] warrant inclusion in a genus distinct from both ''[[Canis]]'' and true foxes (''[[Vulpes]]'').<ref name="Skinner&Chimimba">{{Cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=J. D. |title=The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region |last2=Chimimba |first2=Christian T. |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84418-5}}</ref>

Due to its unusual [[dentition]]&mdash;{{DentalFormula|upper=3.1.4.3-4|lower=3.1.4.4-5|total=46-50}}, the largest number of teeth known in any non-marsupial land mammal&mdash;the bat-eared fox was previously placed in a distinct [[subfamily]] of [[canid]]s, Otocyoninae, as no relationship to any living species of canid could be established.<ref name="Nel&Maas" />

=== Phylogeny ===
''Otocyon megalotis'' is regarded as having affinities with the vulpine line,<ref name="Nel&Maas">{{Cite book |author1=Nel, J. A. J. |title=Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs |author2=Maas, B. |date=2004 |publisher=IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group |isbn=978-2-8317-0786-0 |editor-last1=Sillero-Zubiri |editor-first1=Claudio |location=Gland, Switzerland |chapter=Bat-eared fox ''Otocyon megalotis'' |editor-last2=Hoffmann |editor-first2=Michael |editor-last3=Macdonald |editor-first3=David W. |chapter-url=http://www.canids.org/species/Bat-eared_fox.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901011033/http://www.canids.org/species/Bat-eared_fox.pdf |archive-date=2012-09-01}}</ref> and ''Otocyon'' was placed with high confidence as sister to the [[clade]] containing both the [[raccoon dog]] (''Nyctereutes'') and [[true fox]]es (''Vulpes''), occupying a [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]] (closest to the base) position within [[Canidae]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Westbury|first1=Michael|last2=Dalerum|first2=Fredrik|last3=Norén|first3=Karin|last4=Hofreiter|first4=Michael|date=2017-01-01|title=Complete mitochondrial genome of a bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), along with phylogenetic considerations|journal=Mitochondrial DNA Part B|volume=2|issue=1|pages=298–299|doi=10.1080/23802359.2017.1331325|pmid=33473804|pmc=7800562|url=http://digibuo.uniovi.es/dspace/bitstream/10651/43386/1/Complete%20mitochondrial%20.pdf|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Ancestry">{{Cite book |publisher = Oxford University Press |isbn = 978-0-19-170563-2 |last1 = Wang |first1 = Xiaoming |last2 = Tedford |first2 = Richard H. |last3 = Valkenburgh |first3 = Blaire Van |last4 = Wayne |first4 = Robert K. |chapter = Ancestry: Evolutionary history, molecular systematics, and evolutionary ecology of Canidae |title = The Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids |year = 2004 |chapter-url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267156823 |page=43}}</ref>

The following [[cladogram]] is based on figures by Lindblad-Toh et al., 2005:<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lindblad-Toh |first1=Kerstin |last2=Wade |first2=Claire M. |last3=Mikkelsen |first3=Tarjei S. |last4=Karlsson |first4=Elinor K. |last5=Jaffe |first5=David B. |last6=Kamal |first6=Michael |last7=Clamp |first7=Michele |last8=Chang |first8=Jean L. |last9=Kulbokas |first9=Edward J. |last10=Zody |first10=Michael C. |last11=Mauceli |first11=Evan |last12=Xie |first12=Xiaohui |last13=Breen |first13=Matthew |last14=Wayne |first14=Robert K. |last15=Ostrander |first15=Elaine A. |date=December 2005 |title=Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature04338 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=438 |issue=7069 |pages=803–819 |doi=10.1038/nature04338 |pmid=16341006 |bibcode=2005Natur.438..803L |issn=1476-4687}}</ref>
{{Cladogram|title=Canidae|align=center
|cladogram={{clade
 |label1=[[Canidae]]
  |1={{clade
   |1={{clade
    |1={{clade
     |1={{clade
      |1=''[[Vulpes]]''
      |2=''[[Nyctereutes]]''
      }}
     |2='''''Otocyon'''''
     }}
    |2={{clade
     |1=[[Cerdocyonina]]
     |2=[[Canina (subtribe)|Canina]]
     }}
    }}
   |2=''[[Urocyon]]''
  }}
 }}
}}

==== Subspecies ====
Currently, there are two recognized [[subspecies]]:<ref name="msw3" />

{| class="wikitable "
|-
! Image !! Subspecies !! Distribution
|-
|[[File:Bat-eared fox, Otocyon megalotis, at Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, Northern Cape, South Africa (34193161324) (cropped).jpg|180px|alt=A fox standing in a neutral position]]||''Otocyon megalotis megalotis'' <small>(Desmarest, 1822)</small> ||[[Southern Africa]]
|-
|[[File:Bat-Eared Fox, Seronera Valley, Serengeti, Tanzania (33947794552).jpg|180px|alt=A fox with its mouth slightly open]]||''Otocyon megalotis virgatus'' <small>(Cabrera, 1910)</small> ||[[East Africa]]
|-
|}

==== Fossils ====
''Otocyon'' is poorly represented in the fossil record. It is suggested the genus forms a clade with ''[[Prototocyon]]'', an extinct genus of canid.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bibi |first1=Faysal |last2=Pante |first2=Michael |last3=Souron |first3=Antoine |last4=Stewart |first4=Kathlyn |last5=Varela |first5=Sara |last6=Werdelin |first6=Lars |last7=Boisserie |first7=Jean-Renaud |last8=Fortelius |first8=Mikael |last9=Hlusko |first9=Leslea |last10=Njau |first10=Jackson |last11=de la Torre |first11=Ignacio |title=Paleoecology of the Serengeti during the Oldowan-Acheulean transition at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: The mammal and fish evidence |journal=Journal of Human Evolution |date=July 2018 |volume=120 |pages=48–75 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.009|pmid=29191415 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018JHumE.120...48B |hdl=10261/356953 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hartstone-Rose |first1=Adam |last2=Kuhn |first2=Brian F. |last3=Nalla |first3=Shahed |last4=Werdelin |first4=Lars |last5=Berger |first5=Lee R. |title=A new species of fox from the Australopithecus sediba type locality, Malapa, South Africa |journal=Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa |date=February 2013 |volume=68 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1080/0035919X.2012.748698|bibcode=2013TRSSA..68....1H |s2cid=84695745 }}</ref> In the [[Olduvai Gorge]], [[Tanzania]], fossils of the related extinct fox species first considered ''Otocyon recki'' have been found that date back to the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene.<ref name="Clark2005"/> ''O. recki'' is now often placed in ''Prototocyon'';<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wang |first1=Xiaoming |last2=Tedford |first2=Richard H. |title=Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History |date=2010 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=9780231135290}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Werdelin |first1=Lars |last2=Sanders |first2=William Joseph |title=Cenozoic Mammals of Africa |date=2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520257214 |page=612}}</ref> fossil records specifically of ''Otocyon megalotis'' have been identified in sediments only as old as the [[Chibanian|middle Pleistocene]].<ref name="Potts&Deino">{{Cite journal |author1=Potts, R. |author2=Deino, A. |year=1995 |title=Mid-Pleistocene Change in Large Mammal Faunas of East Africa |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0033589485710101 |journal=Quaternary Research |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=106–113 |bibcode=1995QuRes..43..106P |doi=10.1006/qres.1995.1010 |issn=0033-5894 |s2cid=128684576|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These fossils, known from the Lainyamok locality of Kenya, date back {{Ma|0.3|million years}}.<ref name="Lars-2010">{{Cite book |last1=Werdelen |first1=Lars |title=Cenozoic Mammals of Africa |last2=Peigné |first2=Stéphanie |publisher=University of California Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-520-25721-4 |editor-last1=Werdelin |editor-first1=Lars |pages=609–612 |chapter=Carnivora |editor-last2=Sanders |editor-first2=William Joseph}}</ref>