Editing Fox (section)

==Biology==
[[File:FoxSkelLyd1.png|thumb|Fox skeleton]]

===General morphology===
Foxes are generally smaller than some other members of the family [[Canidae]] such as [[Gray wolf|wolves]] and [[jackal]]s, while they may be larger than some within the family, such as [[raccoon dog]]s. In the largest species, the [[red fox]], males weigh between {{cvt|4.1|and|8.7|kg}},<ref name=Lariviere1996>{{cite journal |author1=Larivière, S.  |author2=Pasitschniak-Arts, M. | year = 1996 | title = ''Vulpes vulpes'' | journal = Mammalian Species |issue=537 | pages = 1–11 | doi = 10.2307/3504236|jstor=3504236 | doi-access = free }}</ref> while the smallest species, the [[fennec fox]], weighs just {{convert|0.7|to|1.6|kg|lb|frac=4|abbr=on}}.<ref name=nobleman>{{cite book |title=Foxes |last=Nobleman |first=Marc Tyler |year=2007 |publisher=Benchmark Books (NY) |isbn=978-0-7614-2237-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/foxes0000nobl/page/35 35–36] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/foxes0000nobl/page/35 }}</ref>

Fox features typically include a triangular face, pointed ears, an elongated [[rostrum (anatomy)|rostrum]], and a bushy tail. They are [[digitigrade]] (meaning they walk on their toes). Unlike most members of the family Canidae, foxes have partially retractable [[claw]]s.<ref name=Burrows>{{cite book|last1=Burrows|first1=Roger|title=Wild fox.|date=1968|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot|isbn=9780715342176}}</ref> Fox vibrissae, or [[whiskers]], are black. The whiskers on the muzzle, known as mystacial vibrissae, average {{convert|100|-|110|mm|in|frac=8|abbr=off}} long, while the whiskers everywhere else on the head average to be shorter in length. Whiskers (carpal vibrissae) are also on the forelimbs and average {{convert|40|mm|in|frac=8|abbr=on}} long, pointing downward and backward.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /> Other physical characteristics vary according to habitat and adaptive significance.

===Pelage===
Fox species differ in fur color, length, and density. Coat colors range from pearly white to black-and-white to black flecked with white or grey on the underside. [[Fennec fox]]es (and other species of fox adapted to life in the desert, such as [[kit fox]]es), for example, have large ears and short fur to aid in keeping the body cool.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /><ref name=Burrows /> [[Arctic fox]]es, on the other hand, have tiny ears and short limbs as well as thick, insulating fur, which aid in keeping the body warm.<ref>{{cite web|title=Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus)|url=http://www.arkive.org/arctic-fox/vulpes-lagopus/|website=ARKive|access-date=2 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006125952/http://www.arkive.org/arctic-fox/vulpes-lagopus/|archive-date=2014-10-06|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Red fox]]es, by contrast, have a typical [[auburn hair|auburn]] [[fur|pelt]], the tail normally ending with a white [[animal coloration|marking]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fox|first1=David|title=Vulpes vulpes, red fox|url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Vulpes_vulpes/|website=Animal Diversity Web|access-date=2 October 2014|archive-date=6 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006082642/http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Vulpes_vulpes/|url-status=live}}</ref>

A fox's coat color and texture may vary due to the change in seasons; fox pelts are richer and denser in the colder months and lighter in the warmer months. To get rid of the dense winter coat, foxes [[moult]] once a year around April; the process begins from the feet, up the legs, and then along the back.<ref name=Burrows /> Coat color may also change as the individual ages.<ref name=Lloyd1980 />

===Dentition===
A fox's [[dentition]], like all other canids, is I 3/3, C 1/1, PM 4/4, M 3/2 = 42. (Bat-eared foxes have six extra molars, totalling in 48 teeth.) Foxes have pronounced [[carnassial]] pairs, which is characteristic of a [[carnivore]]. These pairs consist of the upper premolar and the lower first molar, and work together to shear tough material like flesh. Foxes' canines are pronounced, also characteristic of a carnivore, and are excellent in gripping prey.<ref name=Teeth>{{cite web|title=Canidae|url=http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/index.php?page=493.172.288|website=The University of Edinburgh|access-date=23 September 2014|archive-date=21 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621092257/http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/index.php?page=493.172.288|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Behaviour===
[[File:Alopex lagopus coiled up in snow.jpg|right|thumb|[[Arctic fox]] curled up in snow]]
[[File:Rödräv - (Vulpes vulpes) - Världens ände - Ystad-2023.jpg|thumb|Two young foxes play in the snow in southern [[Sweden]].]]
In the wild, the typical lifespan of a fox is one to three years, although individuals may live up to ten years. Unlike many canids, foxes are not always pack animals. Typically, they live in small family groups, but some (such as [[Arctic fox]]es) are known to be solitary.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /><ref name=Burrows />

Foxes are [[omnivore]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Fedriani |first=J.M. |author2=T. K. Fuller |author3=R. M. Sauvajot |author4=E. C. York |date=2000-07-05 |title=Competition and intraguild predation among three sympatric carnivores |journal=Oecologia |volume=125 |pages=258–270 |url=http://www.ebd.csic.es/cani/public_html/Oecologia_00.pdf |doi=10.1007/s004420000448 |issue=2 |pmid=24595837 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006040228/http://www.ebd.csic.es/cani/public_html/Oecologia_00.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-06 |hdl=10261/54628 |bibcode=2000Oecol.125..258F |s2cid=24289407 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Vulpes_vulpes.html | last=Fox | first=David L. | title=Vulpes vulpes (red fox) | work=Animal Diversity Web | publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology | year=2007 | access-date=2009-08-30 | archive-date=2019-01-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106113334/https://animaldiversity.org/site/accounts/information/Vulpes_vulpes.html%20 | url-status=live }}</ref> Their diet is made up primarily of [[invertebrate]]s such as insects and small [[vertebrate]]s such as reptiles and birds. They may also eat eggs and vegetation. Many species are generalist predators, but some (such as the [[crab-eating fox]]) have more specialized diets. Most species of fox consume around {{convert|1|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of food every day. Foxes [[Hoarding (animal behavior)|cache]] excess food, burying it for later consumption, usually under leaves, snow, or soil.<ref name=Burrows /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Macdonald|first1=David W.|title=Food Caching by Red Foxes and Some Other Carnivores|journal=Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie|date=26 April 2010|volume=42|issue=2|pages=170–185|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0310.1976.tb00963.x|pmid=1007654}}<!--|access-date=2 October 2014--></ref> While hunting, foxes tend to use a particular pouncing technique, such that they crouch down to [[camouflage]] themselves in the terrain and then use their hind legs to leap up with great force and land on top of their chosen prey.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /> Using their pronounced canine teeth, they can then grip the prey's neck and shake it until it is dead or can be readily disemboweled.<ref name=Lloyd1980 />

The [[gray fox]] is one of only two canine species known to regularly climb trees; the other is the [[raccoon dog]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P85eCAAAQBAJ&pg=PT258|title=Free Ranging Dogs – Stray, Feral or Wild?|last=Lavigne|first=Guillaume de|date=2015-03-19|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc|isbn=9781326219529|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

===Sexual characteristics===
[[File:Desert foxes in the throes of passion (50638266987).jpg|thumb|left|Mating [[white-footed fox]]es]]
The male fox's [[scrotum]] is held up close to the body with the [[testes]] inside even after they descend. Like other canines, the male fox has a [[baculum]], or penile bone.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /><ref>Čanády, Alexander. "Variability of the baculum in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from Slovakia." Zoology and Ecology 23.3 (2013): 165–170.</ref><ref>Bijlsma, Rob G. "[http://zoogdierwinkel.nl/sites/default/files/imce/nieuwesite/Winkel/pdf%20download/Lutra%2057(1)_Bijlsma_2014.pdf Copulatory lock of wild red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in broad daylight.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829171201/http://www.zoogdierwinkel.nl/sites/default/files/imce/nieuwesite/Winkel/pdf%20download/Lutra%2057(1)_Bijlsma_2014.pdf |date=2017-08-29 }}" Naturalist 80: 45–67.</ref> The testes of [[red fox]]es are smaller than those of Arctic foxes.<ref name="s341">{{cite book |last1=Heptner |first1=V. G. |last2=Naumov |first2=N. P. |title=Mammals of the Soviet Union |date=1998 |url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofsov211998gept |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden u.a. |isbn=978-1886106819 |page=341}}</ref> [[Spermatogenesis|Sperm formation]] in red foxes begins in August–September, with the testicles attaining their greatest weight in December–February.<ref name="s537">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Naumov|1998|p=537}}</ref>

Vixens are in heat for one to six days, making their reproductive cycle twelve months long. As with other canines, the [[Egg cell|ova]] are shed during [[estrus]] without the need for the stimulation of copulating. Once the egg is fertilized, the vixen enters a period of [[gestation]] that can last from 52 to 53 days. Foxes tend to have an average litter size of four to five with an 80 percent success rate in becoming pregnant.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Parkes|first1=I. W. Rowlands and A. S.|title=The Reproductive Processes of certain Mammals.-VIII. Reproduction in Foxes (Vulpes spp.).|journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London|date=21 August 2009|volume=105|issue=4|pages=823–841|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1935.tb06267.x}}<!--|access-date=2 October 2014--></ref> Litter sizes can vary greatly according to species and environment{{spaced ndash}}the [[Arctic fox]], for example, can have up to eleven kits.<ref>{{Cite journal | jstor=1376014 | first=Milton | last=Hildebrand | title=The Integument in Canidae | journal=Journal of Mammalogy | volume=33 | issue=4 | year=1952 | pages=419–428 | doi=10.2307/1376014}}</ref>

The vixen usually has six or eight [[mammae]].<ref name="Nowak2005">{{cite book|author=Ronald M. Nowak|title=Walker's Carnivores of the World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0q5aHw2mFi8C&q=foxes+%22mammae%22|year=2005|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-8032-2|access-date=2020-10-17|archive-date=2023-11-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231129230118/https://books.google.com/books?id=0q5aHw2mFi8C&q=foxes+%22mammae%22#v=snippet&q=foxes%20%22mammae%22&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Each teat has 8 to 20 [[lactiferous duct]]s, which connect the mammary gland to the nipple, allowing for milk to be carried to the nipple.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}

===Vocalization===
The fox's vocal repertoire is vast, and includes:
;Whine: Made shortly after birth. Occurs at a high rate when kits are hungry and when their body temperatures are low. Whining stimulates the mother to care for her young; it also has been known to stimulate the male fox into caring for his mate and kits.
;Yelp: Made about 19 days later. The kits' whining turns into infantile barks, yelps, which occur heavily during play.
;Explosive call: At the age of about one month, the kits can emit an explosive call which is intended to be threatening to intruders or other cubs; a high-pitched howl.
;Combative call: In adults, the explosive call becomes an open-mouthed combative call during any conflict; a sharper bark.
;Growl: An adult fox's indication to their kits to feed or head to the adult's location.
;Bark: Adult foxes warn against intruders and in defense by barking.<ref name=Lloyd1980 /><ref name=Tembrock>{{cite journal|last1=Tembrock|first1=Günter|title=Canid vocalizations|journal=Behavioural Processes|volume=1|issue=1|pages=57–75|doi=10.1016/0376-6357(76)90007-3|pmid=24923545|year=1976|s2cid=205107627}}<!--|access-date=2 October 2014--></ref>

In the case of domesticated foxes, the whining seems to remain in adult individuals as a sign of excitement and submission in the presence of their owners.<ref name=Lloyd1980 />