🦊Fennec fox
Le fennec (Vulpes zerda) ou renard des sables, est une espèce de mammifère carnivore de la famille des canidés, apparentée aux renards du genre Vulpes. Vivant dans les déserts d'Afrique du Nord, il présente de nombreuses adaptations spécifiques au climat, telles que ses grandes oreilles utilisées pour la localisation de ses proies et la thermorégulation, ses coussinets recouverts de poils le protégeant du sable brûlant, mais surtout sa taille minuscule, faisant de lui la plus petite espèce de canidés sauvage. Autrefois chassé par les populations humaines pour sa viande et sa fourrure, depuis le Néolithique, sa petite taille et son apparence particulière l’ont rendu populaire en tant qu’animal de compagnie à travers le monde, notamment aux États-Unis ou au Japon, au cours du XXe siècle. Le fennec est devenu un emblème de l’Algérie.
Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
IUCN Red List assessment, 2015.
- Body mass
- 1.21 kg
- Body length
- 0.39 m
- Shoulder height
- 0.2 m
- Top speed
- not recorded
- Bite force
- not recorded
- Maximum lifespan
- 16 years
Everything we know about the Fennec fox
Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.
Body mass1.21 kgCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 1.25 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length0.39 mCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Shoulder height0.2 m0.18–0.22 m · typical rangenot statedDetails ↓Hide ↑
"Standing 18 to 22 cm at the shoulder, fennecs are significantly shorter than other African foxes, which average a shoulder height of 30 cm." Range-only; value is the midpoint.
Source: Adams 2004, Animal Diversity Web account: Vulpes zerda, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Vulpes_zerda/ · see citation
Brain mass18 gCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Maximum lifespan16 yearsCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 16 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length5.14 yearsCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Age at maturity294 daysCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Gestation51 daysCOMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 51 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter sizeabout 2COMBINEOther figures ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Figures vary
- 2.2AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic levelOmnivoreCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Activity cycleNocturnalCOMBINEDetails ↓Hide ↑
Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0
Volume l1.2 LaverageDetails ↓Hide ↑
Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.
average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.
Not recorded for Fennec fox yet: top speed, bite force.
Family tree
- kingdomAnimalia
- ›phylumChordata
- ›classMammalia
- ›orderCarnivora
- ›familyCanidae
- ›genusVulpes
- ›speciesVulpes zerda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderCaniformia
- familyCanidae
All 13 branches ↓Fewer branches ↑
- kingdomMetazoa
- phylumChordata
- subphylumCraniata
- subphylumVertebrata
- superclassGnathostomata
- superclassSarcopterygii
- superclassTetrapoda
- classMammals · Mammalia
- subclassTheria
- superorderLaurasiatheria
- orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
- suborderCaniformia
- familyCanidae
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