South American fox

The common English word "zorro" is a loan word from Spanish, with the word originally meaning "fox". Current usage lists Pseudalopex (literally: "false fox") as synonymous with Lycalopex ("wolf fox"), with the latter taking precedence. In 1895, Allen classified Pseudalopex as a subgenus of Canis, establishing the combination Canis (Pseudalopex), a name still used in the fossil record. == Species ==

Species currently included in this genus include: In 1914, Oldfield Thomas established the genus Dusicyon, in which he included these zorros. They were later reclassified to Lycalopex (via Pseudalopex) by Langguth in 1975. == Phylogeny ==

The following phylogenetic tree shows the evolutionary relationships between the Lycalopex species, based on molecular analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. == Relationship with humans ==

The zorros are hunted in Argentina for their durable, soft pelts. They are also often labelled 'lamb-killers'. In his diary of his well-known 1952 traveling with the young Che Guevara, Alberto Granado mentions talking with seasonal workers employed on vast sheep farms, who told him of a successful campaign by the ranch owners to exterminate the foxes who were preying on lambs. The ranchers offered a reward of one Argentinian peso for the body of a dead male fox and as much as five pesos for a female fox; to impoverished workers in the early 1950s, five pesos were a significant sum. Within a few years, foxes became virtually extinct in a large part of Argentina. The Fuegian dog (), also known as the Yaghan dog, was a domesticated form of the culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus), unlike other domesticated canids which were dogs and silver foxes. This means different canid species have been domesticated multiple times by humans independently. == References ==