Kit Fox

The Nature of Kern County

CARNIVORES

Dogs and Foxes

Kit Fox

Vulpes macrotis

by Alison Sheehey ă 1998-2012

San Joaquin Kit Fox copyright Alison Sheehey

Kingdom - ANIMALIA Phylum - CHORDATA Subphylum - VERTEBRATA Class - MAMMALIA Subclass - THERIA Order - CARNIVORA Family - CANIDAE

Genus - Vulpes specific epithet - macrotis Subspecific epithet - arsipus (Desert) macrotis (San Joaquin)

DESCRIPTION

Length – Head and body: 375-500mm. Tail length: 225-323 mm. Black-tipped. Average weight: males - 2.2 kg, females - 1.9 kg. Dental formula: i insisors 3/3-canines 1/1-premolars 4/4-molars 2/3 x 2, Total 42. Mammae 8. Eyes: Brown. Pelage: back gray, outer legs tan, nape of neck tan, belly grayish white. Diet: omnivorous. Two local subspecies V.m. arsipus and V. m. mutica.

HABITAT

Common to grasslands, valley scrub, deserts, oak woodlands, chaparral, and urban settings.

RANGE

The kit fox is found in southern Oregon to Baja California and north-central Mexico. It occupies lowlands in California’s valleys and deserts. In Kern County the range of the desert kit fox includes the Mojave Desert and the San Joaquin Kit Fox is found in the Central Valley and foothills.

Conservation comments:

The San Joaquin Kit Fox is a cute, curious, and endangered resident of the San Joaquin Valley of California

Kern Introduced Species - a short introduction and a list of plants Checklist of Exotic Animals introduced to Kern County

Bullfrog Virginia Opossum Fox Squirrel Rock Pigeon Spotted Dove Ringed Turtle Dove Eurasian Collared Dove

Rose-ringed Parakeet European Starling House Sparrow Hodgepodge of introduced Species

California Ground Squirrel Coyote Deer Mouse Desert Cottontail Kit Fox Lodgepole Chipmunk San Joaquin Antelope Squirrel Kern County Mammals Kern Mammal Checklist

Nature Ali - keeping you informed about the past, present, and future of the natural environment in Kern County. The focus of Nature Ali Publications is the natural history of Kern County and surrounding regions in California. Thanks for visiting.

Photographs and text are copyrighted to Nature Ali and may not be reproduced.