Sechuran Fox

Open encyclopedia reference

The Sechuran fox (Lycalopex sechurae), also called the Peruvian desert fox or the Sechuran zorro, is a small South American species of canid closely related to other South American "false" foxes or zorro. It gets its name for being found in the Sechura Desert in northwestern Peru. It is one of ten extant species of canid endemic to South America. This fox inhabits a narrow region west of the Andes Mountains running along the coastline of Peru and southern Ecuador. More specifically, in dry areas such as savannah-like deserts, cliff-sides, along the western side of the Andes mountains, and beaches. The Sechuran Fox is known by the common names Sechura desert fox and Peruvian desert fox. The etymology of its scientific name comes from the Greek "lycos" meaning "wolf", and "alopex" meaning "fox". Before it was classified under Lycalopex, the Sechuran fox was classed under the Dusicyon genus established by Oldfield Thomas in 1914, and was later moved to the Pseudalopex (meaning "false fox") genus by A. Langguth in 1975.

Wikipedia contributors, Sechuran fox; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:20:14.691091+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Lycalopex sechurae (Thomas, 1900)

Name authority

(Thomas, 1900)

Common name

Sechuran 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 sechurae (Thomas, 1900)

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=726274 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:3WJ97. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.