Fox
common name for various small to medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to the family Canidae
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush").
Twelve species belong to the monophyletic "true fox" group of genus Vulpes. Another 25 current or extinct species are sometimes called foxes but are either part of the paraphyletic group of the South American foxes or belong to an outlying group, the latter consisting of the bat-eared fox, the gray fox, and the island fox.
Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica. The most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their widespread reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, especially in the British Isles, was exported by European settlers to various parts of the New World.
Etymology
The word fox comes from Old English and derives from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. This in turn derives from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ- "thick-haired, tail." Male foxes are known as dogs, tods, or reynards; females as vixens; and young as cubs, pups, or kits, though the last term is not to be confused with the kit fox, a distinct species.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8331. The Library of Congress control number is sh85051130. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Fox” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.