The culpeo (''Lycalopex culpaeus''), also known as Culpeo zorro, Andean zorro, Andean fox, Paramo wolf, Andean wolf,
[Comparative ecology of two South American foxes, 'Dusicvon ariseus' and 'Culpaeus' by Warren E. Johnson. Doctoral dissertation. Iowa State University; 1992. p2. Accessed July 10, 2021 at https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11006&context=rtd] and colpeo fox,
is a species of
South American fox
The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus inhabiting South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to ...
. Despite the name, it is not a
true fox
True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality.
True may also refer to:
Places
* True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States
* ...
, but more closely related to
wolves and jackals. Its appearance resembles that of foxes due to
convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...
.
The culpeo's
diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
consists largely of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...
s,
rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
s,
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s and
lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
s, and to a lesser extent,
plant
Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...
material and
carrion
Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals.
Overview
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...
. They may prey on Andean flamingos and baby
vicuña
The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...
. The culpeo occasionally attacks
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
and is, therefore, often hunted or poisoned.
In some regions, it has become rare, but overall the species is not threatened with
extinction
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
.
The culpeo was
domesticated
Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of reso ...
by the
Selkʼnam people
The Selkʼnam, also known as the Onawo or Ona people, are an Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous people in the Patagonian region of southern Argentina and Chile, including the Tierra del Fuego islands. They were one of the last nati ...
of
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The archipelago consists of the main is ...
, producing the
Fuegian dog which became
extinct
Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...
in the late 19th or early 20th century.
Description
The culpeo is a canid intermediate in size between a
red fox
The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...
and a
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...
. It is the second-largest native
canid
Canidae (; from Latin, ''canis'', "dog") is a family (biology), biological family of caniform carnivorans, constituting a clade. A member of this family is also called a canid (). The family includes three subfamily, subfamilies: the Caninae, a ...
on the
continent
A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
after the
maned wolf
The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of a red fox, but it is neither a fox nor ...
. In appearance, it bears many similarities to the widely recognized red fox. It has grey and reddish fur, a white chin, reddish legs and a stripe on its back that may be barely visible. The average weight of the male is , while the typically smaller females average . Overall, a weight range of has been reported. Total length can range from , including a tail of in length.
[Burnie D and Wilson DE (Eds.) (2005), ''Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife''. DK Adult, . p]
182
/ref> The pelt has a grizzled appearance. The neck and shoulders are often tawny to rufous in color, while the upper back is dark. The bushy tail has a black tip.
Range
The culpeo's range extends from the southern regions of Patagonia
Patagonia () is a geographical region that includes parts of Argentina and Chile at the southern end of South America. The region includes the southern section of the Andes mountain chain with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and glaciers ...
and Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan.
The archipelago consists of the main is ...
in the south to Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
and Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
in the north, with some populations extending into southern Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
. It is also found in the Sierras Grandes mountain range in Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba () is a city in central Argentina, in the foothills of the Punilla Valley, Sierras Chicas on the Primero River, Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province, Argentina, Córdoba Province an ...
. It is most common on the western slopes of the Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
, where it inhabits open country and deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s.
Habitat
The culpeo lives in a wide variety of habitats of western South America. They are found in broadleaf ''Nothofagus
''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...
'' temperate rainforest
Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain.
Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...
, sclerophyllous
Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or oblique to direct ...
matorral
300px, Springtime in Santiago.html" ;"title="Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago">Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway
Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomil ...
, deserts
A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the l ...
, chaparrals
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intensity crown fires. ...
, and plateaus
In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Oft ...
, like the Altiplano
The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...
, up to the tree line ().
Diet
The culpeo is an opportunistic predator that will take any variety of prey. It mainly feeds on rodents (including common degu
The common degu (''Octodon degus''; ), or, historically, the degu, is a small hystricomorpha rodent endemic to the Chilean matorral ecoregion of central Chile. The name ''degu'' on its own indicates either the entire genus '' Octodon'' or, mor ...
s) and lagomorph
The lagomorphs () are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (rabbits and hares) and the Ochotonidae ( pikas). There are 110 recent species of lagomorph, of which 109 species in t ...
s (especially the introduced European rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal and Andorra) and southwestern France. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Oryctolagus''. The European rab ...
and European hare
The European hare (''Lepus europaeus''), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly ...
); however, it occasionally feeds on domestic livestock and young guanaco
The guanaco ( ; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids; the other species is the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations.
Etymology
The gua ...
s. They will also feed on insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s, bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
s, lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
s, fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
, and carrion
Carrion (), also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals.
Overview
Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters (or scavengers) include crows, vultures ...
of llama
The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era.
Llamas are social animals and live with ...
s and vicuña
The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', Vicugna, its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine tundra, alpine areas of the Andes; the other cameli ...
s. Culpeos are considered beneficial because they are significant predators of the rabbits introduced in 1915; such introduced rabbit populations are believed to have allowed culpeos to spread from the Andean foothills across the Patagonian plain. They sometimes take young lambs up to 1 week old. In limited studies, the larger culpeo appears to dominate potential competitors, including South American gray fox
The South American gray fox (''Lycalopex griseus''), also known as the Patagonian fox, the ''chilla'' or ''zorro gris'' (gray fox or gray zorro), is a South America, South American species of ''Lycalopex'' (the "false" or lesser foxes) in the Ca ...
es, Geoffroy's cat
Geoffroy's cat (''Leopardus geoffroyi'') is a small wild cat native to the southern and central regions of South America. It is around the size of a domestic cat. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to it being widespread and a ...
s, pampas cat
The Pampas cat (''Leopardus colocola'') is a small wild cat native to South America. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List as habitat conversion and destruction may cause the population to decline in the future.
It is named aft ...
s, grison
A grison (, ) is any mustelid in the genus ''Galictis''. Native to Central and South America, the genus contains two extant species: the greater grison (''Galictis vittata''), which is found widely in South America, through Central America to s ...
s and various raptorial birds.[ In the southeastern Argentine Patagonia region, culpeos generally tend to consume more of the introduced European hare than the South American gray fox does year-round, while the gray fox tends to consume more rodents. However, during colder seasons, the culpeo's diet overlaps more with the gray fox due to a lack of variety in prey, thus causing prey partitioning as the culpeos use their size advantage to exclude the gray fox from areas with higher concentrations of prey. Its range also overlaps that of the much larger puma, but the size difference ensures that the two species have limited competition. They are known to eat the carcasses of vicuñas. Culpeos have also been observed preying upon introduced ]beavers
Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...
in Tierra del Fuego.
During a period of drought in central Chile's scrublands lagomorphs
The lagomorphs () are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (rabbits and hares) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). There are 110 recent species of lagomorph, of which 109 species in twelve ...
, coati
Coatis (from Tupí), also known as coatimundis (), are members of the family Procyonidae in the genera '' Nasua'' and '' Nasuella'' (comprising the subtribe Nasuina). They are diurnal mammals native to South America, Central America, Mexico, ...
, goats
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...
, and cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
make up a large amount of their diet.
Reproduction
The typical mating period is between August and October. After a gestation period of 55–60 days, the female gives birth usually to between two and five pups.
Classification
Subspecies
File:Lycalopex culpaeus Bolivia.jpg, ''Lycalopex culpaeus andinus'' (Thomas, 1914)
File:Lycalopex culpaeus culpaeus in the Buin Zoo, Chile..jpg, ''Lycalopex culpaeus culpaeus'' (Molina, 1782)
File:Lycalopex culpaeus lycoides in Ushuaia, Argentina..jpg, ''Lycalopex culpaeus lycoides'' (Philippi, 1896)
File:Fox -Puerto Natales, Patagonia, Chile-8.jpg, ''Lycalopex culpaeus magellanicus'' (Gray, 1837)
File:Pes horský.jpg, ''Lycalopex culpaeus reissii'' (Hilzheimer, 1906)
Taxonomy
The taxonomy of the culpeo has been the topic of debate due to their high phenetic variability and the scarcity of research, among other things. Over the past three decades, they have been placed variably in the genera ''Dusicyon
''Dusicyon'' is an extinct genus of South American canids.
Taxonomy
The type species is ''Dusicyon australis'', the Falkland Islands wolf. In 1914, Oldfield Thomas established this genus, in which he included the culpeo and other South Ame ...
'' (Clutton-Brock, ''et al.'', 1976; Wozencraft, 1989), ''Canis
''Canis'' is a genus of the Caninae which includes multiple extant taxon, extant species, such as Wolf, wolves, dogs, coyotes, and golden jackals. Species of this genus are distinguished by their moderate to large size, their massive, well-develo ...
'' (Langguth, 1975; Van Gelder, 1978), ''Pseudalopex
The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus inhabiting South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to ...
'' (Berta, 1987; Wozencraft, 1993; Tedford ''et al.'', 1995) and ''Lycalopex
The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus inhabiting South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related t ...
'' (Zunino, 1995; Wozencraft, 2005).
This canid, like other South American fox
The South American foxes (''Lycalopex''), commonly called ''raposa'' in Portuguese, or ''zorro'' in Spanish, are a genus inhabiting South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to ...
es, is still sometimes classified as a member of the genus ''Pseudalopex''. As ''Pseudalopex'' and ''Lycalopex'' have largely come to describe the same genus, either classification is acceptable, although the modern practice is to give ''Lycalopex'' prominence.
References
{{Authority control
South American foxes
Mammals of the Andes
Mammals of Patagonia
Mammals of Argentina
Mammals of Bolivia
Mammals of Chile
Mammals of Colombia
Mammals of Ecuador
Mammals of Peru
Fauna of Tierra del Fuego
Fauna of the Falkland Islands
Carnivorans of South America
Mammals described in 1782
Least concern biota of South America
Fauna of the Chilean Matorral