Darwin's Fox

Open encyclopedia reference

Darwin's fox or Darwin's zorro (Lycalopex fulvipes) is an endangered canid from the genus Lycalopex, which is distantly related to wolves and whose members are not true foxes. It is also known as the zorro chilote or zorro de Darwin in Spanish and is endemic to Chile, where it lives in the temperate rainforests of Nahuelbuta National Park, the Cordillera de Oncol, Cordillera Pelada, and Chiloé Island. It is a small, dark-colored species that is distinguished from other Lycalopex by its shorter legs, broader head, and darker pelage. Darwin's fox was first collected from San Pedro Island off the coast of Chile by the naturalist Charles Darwin in 1834, after whom the species is named. It was long held that Darwin's fox was a subspecies of the South American gray fox (Lycalopex griseus); however, in 1990, a small population of Darwin's fox was discovered on the mainland in Nahuelbuta National Park and subsequent genetic analysis confirmed that the fox is a distinct species.

Wikipedia contributors, Darwin's fox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:19:44.087546+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Lycalopex fulvipes (Martin, 1837)

Name authority

(Martin, 1837)

Common name

Darwin's Fox

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Canidae

Genus

Lycalopex

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderCaniformia Kretzoi, 1938
13. familyCanidae G. Fischer von Waldheim, 1817
14. genusLycalopex Burmeister, 1854
15. speciesLycalopex fulvipes (Martin, 1837)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Lycalopex. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 30 records assigned to Canidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=726271 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3WJ94. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.