AnimalvsAnimal
Portrait of a red fox in Rautas fjällurskog (cropped)🦊

Photo: ClaudiaTen · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesCarnivoraCanidae
Carnivores

🦊Red fox

Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758)

The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, and the most widely distributed member of the order Carnivora. It is present across the entire Northern Hemisphere, including most of North America, Europe and Asia, as well as parts of North Africa. Its range has expanded alongside human settlement, with the species having been introduced to Australia, where it preys on native small and medium-sized rodents and marsupials. The red fox is listed as of least concern on the IUCN Red List. Because of its impact on native species, it is included on the list of the "world's 100 worst invasive species".

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
515
Photos
1
Measurements
14
vs you
≈ 1/14th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2021.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
4.58 kg
Body length
0.63 m
Shoulder height
0.41 m
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
21 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Red fox

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
4.58 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 4.13 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.63 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Shoulder height
0.41 mat the shoulder
Details ↓

Profile, Average Size box: "Height: 16 in. at the shoulder." 16 in = 0.41 m. Corroborated by Fairfax County Park Authority fox brochure: foxes "stand just 12-16 inches tall at the shoulders." ADW and Mammalian Species give lengths only.

Source: North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, 'Red Fox', NC Wildlife Profiles (profile references incl. Whitaker & Hamilton 1998, Mammals of the Eastern United States), https://www.ncwildlife.gov/media/2186/open · see citation

Brain mass
46 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
21 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 21 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
5.76 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
321 days
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
52 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 52 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 5
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 5AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Omnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Crepuscular / mixed
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
3.5 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
1.1 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
4.6 Laverage
Details ↓

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 Red fox yet: top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyCanidae
  6. ›genusVulpes
  7. ›speciesVulpes vulpes
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. suborderCaniformia
  4. familyCanidae
All 13 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderCaniformia
  13. familyCanidae
More

More about the Red fox

Closest relative on this site
🐺 Corsac fox — last shared an ancestor ≈ 2.5 million years ago.
What it eats
warm-blooded animals70%
insects and other invertebrates20%
fruit10%
In other languages
renard roux (fr), ثعلب أحمر (ar), червена лисица (bg), guineu roja (ca), liška obecná (cs), rød ræv (da) … and 27 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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Scaling lab

How speed, brain and bite scale with body size. This animal isn't in the sample yet.

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Tree of life

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