Vulpini is a taxonomic rank which represents the fox-like tribe of the subfamily Caninae (the canines), and is sister to the dog-like tribe Canini.[2]

Vulpini
Clockwise from top: red fox, bat-eared fox, tanuki
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Subfamily: Caninae
Tribe: Vulpini
Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1832
Genera[1]

Genera

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Image Genus Species
  Nyctereutes Temminck, 1838
  Otocyon S. Müller, 1835
  Vulpes Garsault, 1764
Ferrucyon Ruiz-Ramoni et al., 2020
Metalopex S. Müller, 1835
Prototocyon Pohle, 1928

Taxonomy

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The taxonomy of Carnivora in general and Canidae in particular correlates with various diagnostic features of the dentition and basicranium. Regarding Vulpini, Tedford has remarked:

These small canids are distinguished from all other Caninae in possessing a wide paroccipital process that is broadly sutured to the posterior surface of the bulla with a short and laterally turned free tip that barely extends below the body of the process. The presence of a metaconule and postprotocrista on M2 of vulpines represents the culmination of a reversal that began with late Leptocyon species to resume the form of the primitive canine M2.

The cladogram below is based on the phylogeny of Lindblad-Toh (2005)[3] modified to incorporate recent findings on Vulpes.[4]

Vulpini

Otocyon megalotis (bat-eared fox)  

Nyctereutes (raccoon dogs)  

Vulpes

Vulpes zerda (fennec fox)  

Vulpes cana (Blanford's fox)  

Vulpes chama (Cape fox)  

Vulpes vulpes (red fox)  

Vulpes rueppellii (Ruppell's fox)  

Vulpes corsac (corsac fox)  

Vulpes ferrilata (Tibetan sand fox)  

Vulpes macrotis (kit fox)  

Vulpes lagopus (Arctic fox)  

References

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  1. ^ a b Damián Ruiz-Ramoni; Francisco Juan Prevosti; Saverio Bartolini Lucenti; Marisol Montellano-Ballesteros; Ana Luisa Carreño (2020). "The Pliocene canid Cerdocyon avius was not the type of fox that we thought". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (2): e1774889. doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1774889. S2CID 222214868.
  2. ^ a b c Tedford, Richard H.; Wang, Xiaoming; Taylor, Beryl E. (2009). "Phylogenetic Systematics of the North American Fossil Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae)" (PDF). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 325: 1–218. doi:10.1206/574.1. hdl:2246/5999. S2CID 83863819.
  3. ^ Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin; Wade, Claire M.; Mikkelsen, Tarjei S.; Karlsson, Elinor K.; Jaffe, David B.; Kamal, Michael; et al. (2005). "Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog". Nature. 438 (7069): 803–819. Bibcode:2005Natur.438..803L. doi:10.1038/nature04338. PMID 16341006.
  4. ^ Zhao, Chao; Zhang, Honghai; Liu, Guangshuai; Yang, Xiufeng; Zhang, Jin (2016). "The complete mitochondrial genome of the Tibetan fox (Vulpes ferrilata) and implications for the phylogeny of Canidae". Comptes Rendus Biologies. 339 (2): 68–77. doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2015.11.005. ISSN 1631-0691. PMID 26868757.