Fox

A geographic record-holder

The red fox has the largest natural range of any wild carnivore — found across nearly the entire Northern Hemisphere, plus an introduced population in Australia where it’s a destructive invasive species. They thrive everywhere from the Arctic tundra to the deserts of North Africa to the centers of European cities.

Urban specialists

Red foxes have adapted remarkably well to cities. London, Bristol, and Berlin host substantial urban fox populations. Urban foxes show measurable behavioral and even physical adaptations — they’re bolder around humans, have shorter snouts, and have shifted their diet toward human food waste. The urban populations don’t simply visit cities; they’re full residents that breed and raise cubs in suburban gardens.

A magnetic compass

Studies in 2011 found that red foxes orient toward the north-northeast when pouncing on prey hidden under snow — and have far higher hunting success at this orientation than at other angles. Researchers concluded that foxes use the Earth’s magnetic field to estimate distance to unseen prey, a navigation skill not previously documented in any predator.

Foxes that aren’t red foxes

Several other species share the “fox” name but belong to different genera:

• Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) — small, white-furred in winter.
• Fennec fox (Vulpes zerda) — tiny ears, North African desert.
• Gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) — North America; can climb trees.
• Bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) — eats termites in African savannas.

Domestication, in real time

The Russian farm-fox experiment, started in 1959 by geneticist Dmitri Belyaev, selectively bred silver foxes (a melanistic red fox variant) only for tameness — handlers picked the friendliest few percent of each generation to breed. After 50 generations, the foxes had become measurably dog-like: piebald coats, floppy ears, curled tails, and a willingness to seek human company. The experiment is one of the most influential studies on the genetics of domestication.