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;1 as well as one fossil species, Urocyon progressus.2 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.3 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.4
References
- ^ a b Wozencraft, W. C. (16 November 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds). ed.. Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition ed.), Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-801-88221-4, http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=14000840.
- ^ Prevosti, F.J., & Rincóon, A.D. (2007). "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". J. Pal. 81 (5): 1053–1065. doi:10.1666/pleo05-143.1.
- ^ Cuarón, Alfredo D.; Martinez-Morales, Miguel Angel; McFadden, Katherine W.; Valenzuela, David; & Gompper, Matthew E. (2004). "The status of dwarf carnivores on Cozumel Island, Mexico" (dead link – Scholar search). Biodiversity and Conservation 13: 317–331. doi:10.1023/B:BIOC.0000006501.80472.cc, http://www.iucn.org/themes/ssc/sgs/mvpsg/pdf/Biblio/Cuaron_et_al.pdf.
- ^ Gompper, M. E.; Petrites, A. E. & Lyman, R. L. (2006). "Cozumel Island fox (Urocyon sp.) dwarfism and possible divergence history based on subfossil bones". J. Zool. 270 (1): 72–77. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00119.x.
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