Vulpes riffautae

Taxobox
name = "Vulpes riffautae"cite journal | author = De Bonis, L. | coauthors = Peigné, S.; Likius, A.; MacKaye, H.T.; Vignaud, P.; Brunet, M. | year = 2007 | title = The oldest African fox ("Vulpes riffautae" n. sp., Canidae, Carnivora) recovered in late Miocene deposits of the Djurab desert, Chad | journal = Naturwissenschaften | volume = 94 | issue = 7 | pages = 575-580 | url = http://www.springerlink.com/index/D873832U57615708.pdf | accessdate = 2008-05-06]
fossil_range = late Miocene
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Carnivora
familia = Canidae
genus = "Vulpes"
species = †"V. riffautae"
binomial = †"Vulpes riffautae"
binomial_authority = de Bonis et al., 2007

"Vulpes riffautae" is an extinct species of fox from the late Miocene of Chad (approximately 7 ma). Fossils of "V. riffautae" potentially represent the earliest record of the dog family (Canidae) in the Old World. "V. riffautae" was intermediate in size between the Rüppell's Fox ("Vulpes rueppellii") and Fennec Fox ("V. zerda").

References