Urocyon

Taxobox
name = "Urocyon"MSW3 Wozencraft | pages = | id = 14000840]


image_caption = Gray Fox
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia = Canidae
subfamilia = Caninae
genus = "Urocyon"
genus_authority = Baird, 1857
type_species = "Canis virginianus"
type_species_authority = Schreber, 1775
(= Canis cinereo argenteus Schreber, 1775)
subdivision_ranks = Species
subdivision = "Urocyon cinereoargenteus"
"Urocyon littoralis"
†"Urocyon progressus"

The genus "Urocyon" is a genus that contains two (or possibly three) living Western Hemisphere foxes in the family Canidae, the Gray Fox ("Urocyon cinereoargenteus") and the closely-related Island Fox ("Urocyon littoralis") which is a dwarf cousin of the Gray Fox; as well as one fossil species, "Urocyon progressus".cite journal | author = Prevosti, F.J., & Rincóon, A.D. | year = 2007 | title = A new fossil canid assemblage from the late Pleistocene of northern South America: the canids of the Inciarte asphalt pit (Zulia, Venezuela), fossil record and biogeography | journal = J. Pal. | volume = 81 | issue = 5 | pages = 1053–1065 | doi = 10.1666/pleo05-143.1] "Urocyon" and the Raccoon Dog are the only canids able to climb trees. "Urocyon" is one of the oldest fox genera still in existence. A third species, apparently close to extinction or even already extinct, is (or was, until recently) found on the island of Cozumel, Mexico.cite journal | author = Cuarón, Alfredo D.; Martinez-Morales, Miguel Angel; McFadden, Katherine W.; Valenzuela, David; & Gompper, Matthew E. | year = 2004 | title = The status of dwarf carnivores on Cozumel Island, Mexico | journal = Biodiversity and Conservation | volume = 13 | pages = 317–331 | url = http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/mvpsg/pdf/Biblio/Cuaron_et_al.pdf | doi = 10.1023/B:BIOC.0000006501.80472.cc | format = dead link|date=June 2008 – ^{[http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=intitle%3AThe+status+of+dwarf+carnivores+on+Cozumel+Island%2C+Mexico&as_publication=Biodiversity+and+Conservation&as_ylo=2004&as_yhi=2004&btnG=Search Scholar search]} ] The Cozumel Fox, which has not been scientifically described to date, is a dwarf form like the Island Fox but a bit larger, being up to three-quarters the size of the Gray Fox.cite journal | author = Gompper, M. E.; Petrites, A. E. & Lyman, R. L. | year = 2006 | title = Cozumel Island fox ("Urocyon" sp.) dwarfism and possible divergence history based on subfossil bones | journal = J. Zool. | volume = 270 | issue = 1 | pages = 72–77 | doi = 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00119.x]

References