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Bat-eared fox

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Bat-eared fox[1]
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Genus: Otocyon
S. Müller,1835
Species:
O. megalotis
Binomial name
Otocyon megalotis
(Desmarest,1822)
Subspecies
  • O. megalotis megalotis
  • O. megalotis virgatus
range
Synonyms[3]
  • Canis megalotisDesmarest, 1822
  • Canis lalandiiDesmoulins, 1823
  • Otocyon cafferS. Müller, 1836
  • Agriodus auritusH. Smith, 1840
  • Otocyon virgatusMiller, 1909
  • Otocyon canescensCabrera, 1910
  • Otocyon steinhardtiZukowsky, 1924
Bat-eared fox at Masai Mara National Reserve

Thebat-eared fox(Otocyon megalotis) is a species offoxfound on the Africansavanna.It is the only extant species of the genusOtocyon[1]and considered abasalcanidspecies.[4]Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during themiddle Pleistocene.[5]

It is named for its large ears, which have a role inthermoregulation.[3]The bat referred to in its colloquial name is possibly theEgyptian slit-faced bat(Nycteris thebaica), which is abundant in the region and has very large ears.[6]Although not commonly used, other vernacular names include big-eared fox, black-eared fox, long-eared fox,[7]Delalande's fox, cape fox,[note 1][8]and motlosi.[3]

Systematics and evolution[edit]

The bat-eared fox is the only living species of the genusOtocyon.Its scientific name, given byAnselme Gaëtan Desmarest,was initiallyCanis megalotis(due to its close resemblance to jackals), and later changed bySalomon Müllerwhich placed it in its own genus,Otocyon;its huge ears and different dental formula warrant inclusion in a genus distinct from bothCanisand true foxes (Vulpes).[6]The generic nameOtocyonis derived from theGreekwordsotusfor ear andcyonfor dog, while the specific namemegalotiscomes from the Greek wordsmegafor large andotusfor ear.[3]

Due to its different dentition, the bat-eared fox was previously placed in a distinctsubfamilyof canids, Otocyoninae, as no relationship to any living species of canid could be established. However, according to more recent examinations, this species is regarded as having affinities with the vulpine line,[9]andOtocyonwas placed with high confidence as sister to the clade containing both theraccoon dog(Nyctereutes) andtrue foxes(Vulpes), occupying a basal position withinCanidae.[10][4]

Subspecies[edit]

Currently, there are two recognized subspecies:[9]

Image Subspecies Distribution
Otocyon megalotis megalotis(Desmarest, 1822) Southern Africa
Otocyon megalotis virgatus(Cabrera, 1910)Rothschild, 1902 East Africa.

Fossils[edit]

Otocyonis poorly represented in the fossil record. It is suggested the genus forms a clade withPrototocyon,an extinct genus of canid. However, the generic distinction betweenPrototocyonand the extantOtocyonis doubtful.[11][12]Fossils of an extinct fox-like canine known asOtocyon recki,have been found in sediments of theOlduvai Gorge,Tanzania,dating back to the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene.[3]However, it is now often placed inPrototocyon.[13][14]

Description[edit]

Bat-eared foxes are relatively small canids, ranging in weight from 3 to 5.3 kg (6.6 to 11.7 lb). Head and body length is 46–66 cm (18–26 in), tail length is 23–34 cm (9.1–13 in), shoulder height is 30–40 cm (12–16 in),[15]and the notably large ears are 11–13 cm (4.3–5.1 in) long.[16]

Generally, the pelage is tan-colored, with gray agouti guard hairs,[15]giving its grizzled appearance, appearing more buff on the sides.[9]The undersides and throat are pale. The limbs are dark, shading to dark brown or black at their extremities. The muzzle, the tip and upperside of the tail and the facial mask are black. The insides of the ears are white.[3]Individuals of the East African subspecies,O. m. virgatus,tend toward a buff pelage with dark brown markings, as opposed to the black ofO. m. megalotis.Proportionally large ears of bat-eared foxes, a characteristic shared by many other inhabitants of hot, arid climates, help to distribute heat. They also help in locating prey.[16]

Range and distribution[edit]

The bat-eared fox has a disjointed range of distribution across the arid and semi-arid regions of Eastern and Southern Africa, in twoallopatricpopulations (representing each of the recognizedsubspecies) separated by approximately 1,000 km (620 mi). SubspeciesO. m. virgatusextends from southernSudan,EthiopiaandSomalia,throughUgandaandKenyato southwesternTanzania;O. m. megalotisoccurs in the southern part of Africa, ranging fromAngolathroughNamibiaandBotswanatoSouth Africa,and extends as far east asMozambiqueandZimbabwe,[2]spreading into theCape Peninsulaand towardCape Agulhas.Home ranges vary in size from 0.3 to 3.5 km2(0.12 to 1.35 sq mi).[3]There are no confirmed observations in Zambia.[2]

Habitat[edit]

Bat-eared foxes are adapted to arid or semi-arid environments. They are commonly found in shortgrasslands,as well as the more arid regions of the savannas, along woodland edges, and in open acacia woodlands.[16]They prefer bare ground and areas where grass is kept short by grazingungulates[3]and tend to hunt in these short grass and low shrub habitats. However, they do venture into areas with tall grasses and thick shrubs to hide when threatened.[17]

In addition to raising their young in dens, bat-eared foxes use self-dug dens for shelter from extreme temperatures and winds. They also lie underacaciatrees in South Africa to seek shade during the day.[3]

Diet[edit]

Skull of a bat eared fox

Bat-eared foxes are considered the only trulyinsectivorouscanid,[18]with a marked preference for harvester termites (Hodotermes mossambicus),[19]which can constitute 80–90% of its diet.[3]

When this particular species of termite is not available, their opportunistic diet allows a wide variety of food items to be taken:[19]they can consume other species of termites, otherarthropodssuch asants,beetles(especiallyscarab beetles),[20]crickets,grasshoppers,millipedes,moths,scorpions,spiders,and rarely birds, birds' eggs and chicks,[20]small mammals, reptiles, andfungi(the desert truffleKalaharituber pfeilii[21]). Berries, seeds, and wild fruit also are consumed. The bat-eared fox refuses to feed onsnouted harvester termites,likely because it is not adapted to tolerate termites'chemical defense.[3]

Generally, bat-eared foxes meet their water requirements by the high water content of their diet. Water constitutes a critical resource duringlactation.

Dentition[edit]

The teeth of the bat-eared fox are much smaller and reduced in shearing surface formation than teeth of other canid species. This is an adaptation to itsinsectivorousdiet.[22]The bat-eared fox is an old species that was widely distributed in thePleistoceneera. The teeth are not the bat-eared fox's only morphological adaptation for its diet. On the lower jaw, a step-like protrusion, called the subangular process,[clarification needed]anchors the largedigastric muscleto allow for rapid chewing. Thedigastric muscleis also modified to open and close the jaw five times per second.[3]

Foraging[edit]

Bat-eared foxes usually hunt in groups, often splitting up in pairs, with separated subgroups moving through the same general area.[23]When termites are plentiful, feeding aggregations of up to 15 individuals from different families occur.[24]Individuals forage alone after family groups break in June or July and during the months after kits birth.

Prey is located primarily by auditory means, rather than by smell or sight.[23]Foraging patterns vary between seasons and populations, and coincide with termite availability. In eastern Africa, nocturnal foraging is the rule, while in southern Africa, nocturnal foraging during summer slowly changes to an almost solelydiurnalpattern during the winter. Foraging techniques depend on prey type, but food is often located by walking slowly, nose close to the ground and ears tilted forward.[9]It usually occurs in patches, which match the clumped prey resources, such as termite colonies, that also occur in patches. Groups are able to forage on clumps of prey in patches because they do not fight each other for food due to their degree of sociality and lack of territoriality.[17]

Behavior[edit]

In the more northern areas of its range (aroundSerengeti), they arenocturnal85% of the time. However, around South Africa, they are nocturnal only in the summer and diurnal during the winter.[25]

Bat-eared foxes are highly social animals. They often live in pairs or groups, and home ranges of groups either overlap substantially or very little. In southern Africa, bat-eared foxes live in monogamous pairs with kits, while those in eastern Africa may live in pairs, or in stable family groups consisting of a male and up to three closely related females with kits.[26]Individuals forage, play, and rest together in a group, which helps in protection against predators. They engage in frequent and extendedallogroomingsessions, which serve to strengthen group cohesion, mostly between mature adults, but also between young adults and mature adults.[3]

Threat display of bat-eared fox

Visual displays are very important in communication among bat-eared foxes. When they are looking intently at something, the head is held high, eyes are open, ears are erect and facing forward, and the mouth is closed. When an individual is in threat or showing submission, the ears are pulled back and lying against the head and the head is low. The tail also plays a role in communication. When an individual is asserting dominance or aggression, feeling threatened, playing, or being sexually aroused, the tail is arched in an inverted U shape. Individuals can also usepiloerection,which occurs when individual hairs are standing straight, to make it appear larger when faced with extreme threat. When running, chasing, or fleeing, the tail is straight and horizontal. The bat-eared fox can recognize individuals up to 30 m (98 ft) away. The recognition process has three steps: First they ignore the individual, then they stare intently, and finally they either approach or attack without displays. When greeting another, the approaching individual shows symbolic submission which is received by the other individual with a high head and tail down. Few vocalizations are used for communication, but contact calls and warning calls are used, mostly during the winter.Glandular secretionsand scratching, other than for digging, are absent in communication,[3]although they appear to establishpair bondsbyscent marking.[27]

Reproduction[edit]

Juvenile bat-eared fox pups playing outside of their den in Naboisho Conservancy,Kenya,just outside ofMaasai MaraNational Reserve

The bat-eared fox is predominantly sociallymonogamous,[28]although it has been observed inpolygynousgroups. In contrast to other canids, the bat-eared fox has a reversal in parental roles, with the male taking on the majority of the parental care behavior.Gestationlasts for 60–70 days and females give birth to litters consisting of one to six kits. Beyondlactation,which lasts 14 to 15 weeks,[3]males take over grooming, defending, huddling, chaperoning, and carrying the young between den sites. Additionally, male care and den attendance rates have been shown to have a direct correlation with kits survival rates.[29]The female forages for food, which she uses to maintain milk production, on which the pups heavily depend. Food foraged by the female is not brought back to the pups orregurgitatedto feed the pups.[3]

Pups in theKalahariregion are born September–November and those in theBotswanaregion are born October–December. Young bat-eared foxes disperse and leave their family groups at 5–6 months old and reach sexual maturity at 8–9 months.[3]Bat-eared foxes have been recorded reaching maximum lifespans of over 14 to 17 years in captivity.[30][31]

Conservation threats[edit]

Wikispecieshas information related toOtocyon megalotis.
Wikimedia Commons has media related toOtocyon megalotis.

The bat-eared fox has some commercial use for humans. They are important forharvester termitepopulation control, as the termites are considered pests. They have also been hunted for their fur by Botswana natives.[3]Additional threats to populations include disease and drought that can harm populations of prey; however, no major threats to bat-eared fox populations exist.[2]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Note that cape fox is the common name for a true fox from South Africa,Vulpes chama.

References[edit]

  1. ^abWozencraft, W. C.(2005)."Order Carnivora".InWilson, D. E.;Reeder, D. M. (eds.).Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference(3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN978-0-8018-8221-0.OCLC62265494.
  2. ^abcdHoffmann, M. (2014)."Otocyon megalotis".IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.2014:e.T15642A46123809.doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T15642A46123809.en.Retrieved11 November2021.
  3. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrClark, H. O. (2005). "Otocyon megalotis".Mammalian Species(766): 1–5.doi:10.1644/1545-1410(2005)766[0001:OM]2.0.CO;2.JSTOR3504550.S2CID198969264.
  4. ^abWang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H.; Valkenburgh, Blaire Van; Wayne, Robert K. (2004)."Ancestry: Evolutionary history, molecular systematics, and evolutionary ecology of Canidae".The Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids.Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-170563-2.
  5. ^Potts, R.; Deino, A. (1995)."Mid-Pleistocene Change in Large Mammal Faunas of East Africa".Quaternary Research.43(1): 106–113.Bibcode:1995QuRes..43..106P.doi:10.1006/qres.1995.1010.ISSN0033-5894.S2CID128684576.
  6. ^abSkinner, J. D.; Chimimba, Christian T. (2005).The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-521-84418-5.
  7. ^Miller, W.T. (1972).The Flesh-eaters: A Guide to the Carnivorous Animals of Southern Africa.Purnell.ISBN978-0-360-00166-4.
  8. ^Robinson, Stephanie."Draft Terms of Reference – Bat-eared Fox"(PDF).p. 30.
  9. ^abcdNel, J. A. J.; Maas, B. (2004)."Bat-eared foxOtocyon megalotis"(PDF).In Sillero-Zubiri, Claudio; Hoffmann, Michael; Macdonald, David W. (eds.).Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs.Gland, Switzerland: IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group.ISBN978-2-8317-0786-0.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2012-09-01.
  10. ^Westbury, Michael; Dalerum, Fredrik; Norén, Karin; Hofreiter, Michael (2017-01-01)."Complete mitochondrial genome of a bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), along with phylogenetic considerations"(PDF).Mitochondrial DNA Part B.2(1): 298–299.doi:10.1080/23802359.2017.1331325.PMC7800562.PMID33473804.
  11. ^Bibi, Faysal; Pante, Michael; Souron, Antoine; Stewart, Kathlyn; Varela, Sara; Werdelin, Lars; Boisserie, Jean-Renaud; Fortelius, Mikael; Hlusko, Leslea; Njau, Jackson; de la Torre, Ignacio (July 2018)."Paleoecology of the Serengeti during the Oldowan-Acheulean transition at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania: The mammal and fish evidence".Journal of Human Evolution.120:48–75.doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.009.hdl:10261/356953.PMID29191415.
  12. ^Hartstone-Rose, Adam; Kuhn, Brian F.; Nalla, Shahed; Werdelin, Lars; Berger, Lee R. (February 2013). "A new species of fox from the Australopithecus sediba type locality, Malapa, South Africa".Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa.68(1): 1–9.doi:10.1080/0035919X.2012.748698.S2CID84695745.
  13. ^Wang, Xiaoming; Tedford, Richard H. (2010).Dogs: Their Fossil Relatives and Evolutionary History.Columbia University Press.ISBN9780231135290.
  14. ^Werdelin, Lars; Sanders, William Joseph (2010).Cenozoic Mammals of Africa.University of California Press. p. 612.ISBN9780520257214.
  15. ^abNowak, Ronald M.; Macdonald, David W.; Kays, Roland (2005).Walker's Carnivores of the World.Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN978-0-8018-8033-9.
  16. ^abcSheldon, Jennifer W. (1992).Wild Dogs: the Natural History of the Nondomestic Canidae.San Diego: Academic Press, Inc.ISBN0-12-639375-3.
  17. ^abKuntzsch, V.; Nel, J.A.J. (1992)."Diet of bat-eared foxes Otocyon megalotis in the Karoo".Koedoe.35(2): 37–48.doi:10.4102/koedoe.v35i2.403.
  18. ^Klare, Unn; Kamler, Jan F.; Macdonald, David W. (September 2011)."The bat-eared fox: A dietary specialist?".Mammalian Biology.76(5): 646–650.doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2011.06.005.ISSN1616-5047.
  19. ^abStuart, Chris T.; Stuart, Tilde; Pereboom, Vincent (2003). "Diet of the bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis), based on scat analysis, on the Western Escarpment, South Africa ".{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  20. ^ab"Otocyon megalotis (Bat-eared fox)".Animal Diversity Web.
  21. ^Trappe JM, Claridge AW, Arora D, Smit WA (2008). "Desert truffles of the Kalahari: ecology, ethnomycology and taxonomy".Economic Botany.62(3): 521–529.doi:10.1007/s12231-008-9027-6.S2CID34319584.
  22. ^Kieser, J.A. (May 1995). "Gnathomandibular Morphology and Character Displacement in the Bat-eared Fox".Journal of Mammalogy.76(2): 542–550.doi:10.2307/1382362.JSTOR1382362.
  23. ^abNel, J.A.J. (1978). "Notes on the food and foraging behavior of the bat-eared fox,Otocyon megalotis".{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal=(help)
  24. ^Hunter, L.; Barrett, P. (2020).Field Guide to Carnivores of the World(2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN978-1-4729-8267-4.
  25. ^Thompson, Paul."Otocyon megalotis,bat-eared fox".Animal Diversity Web.University of Michigan.Retrieved7 September2014.
  26. ^Kingdon, J. (2014).Mammals of Africa: Volume V: Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses.Bloomsbury Publishing.ISBN978-1-4081-8994-8.
  27. ^Estes, Richard (1991).The Behavior Guide to African Mammals: Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates.University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-08085-0.
  28. ^Wright, Harry WY; et al. (2010)."Mating tactics and paternity in a socially monogamous canid, the bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis)".Journal of Mammalogy.91(2): 437–446.doi:10.1644/09-mamm-a-046.1.
  29. ^Wright, Harry William Yorkstone (2006). "Paternal den attendance is the best predictor of offspring survival in the socially monogamous bat-eared fox".Animal Behaviour.71(3): 503–510.doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.03.043.S2CID53148426.
  30. ^Thomson, Paul."Otocyon megalotis (bat-eared fox)".Animal Diversity Web.Retrieved2022-12-19.
  31. ^"Bat-eared fox articles – Encyclopedia of Life".eol.org.Retrieved2022-12-19.
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