Falkland Island fox

   

Falkland Island Fox


Conservation status: Extinct (1876)

<tr><th bgcolor=pink>Scientific classification <tr><td>
<tr><td>Kingdom:<td>Animalia <tr><td>Phylum:<td>Chordata <tr><td>Class:<td>Mammalia <tr><td>Order:<td>Carnivora <tr><td>Family:<td>Canidae <tr><td>Genus:<td>Dusicyon <tr><td>Species:<td>D. australis </table> <tr><th bgcolor=pink>Binomial name <tr><td align="center">Dusicyon australis
(Kerr, 1792) </table> The Falkland Island Fox (Dusicyon australis, also formerly named Canis antarcticus by Darwin), also known as the Warrah and occasionally as the Falkland Island Wolf or Antarctic Wolf, was the only native land mammal of the Falkland Islands. This canid became extinct in 1876. It was the only species in the genus Dusicyon. The fur of the Falkland Island Fox had a tawny colour. The diet is unknown. Due to the absence of native rodents it probably consisted of birds and insects, as well as seashore scavenging. The Falkland Island Fox is reported to have been common and tame, when Charles Darwin visited the islands in 1833. The settlers regarded the fox as a threat to their sheep and organised poisoning and shooting on a massive scale. The absence of forests led to a speedy success of the extermination campaign. de:Falklandfuchs he:שועל מאלוויני

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