• Vulpes Frisch, J.L. 1775. Das Natur-System der vierfüssigen Thiere, in Tabellen, darinnen alle Ordnungen, Geschlechte und Arten, nicht nur mit bestimmenden Benennungen, sondern beygesetzten unterscheidenden Kennzeichen angezeigt werden, zum Nutzen der erwachsenen Schuljugend. Glogau : C.F. Günther 40 pp. [15] [Vulpes Frisch, 1775 is a validated name, see International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1979). loc. cit.].

  Type species:

   Canis vulpes Linnaeus, 1758 by designation under Plenary Powers, see International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1979. Opinion 1129. Vulpes Frisch, 1775 (Mammalia) conserved under the plenary powers. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 36: 76-78 [76].

 

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Wozencraft, W.C. 1993. Order Carnivora. pp. 279-344 in Wilson, D.E. & Reeder, D-A. M. (eds). Mammal species of the world: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Second Edition. Washington : Smithsonian Institute 1206 pp. [285] (for extralimital synonymy)

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

General References

Van Gelder, R.G. 1978. A review of canid classification. American Museum Novitates 2646: 1-10 (presenting alternative taxonomic arrangement Gelder's classification based on hybridisation criteria combined Canis and Vulpes, but is not generally recognised)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
16-Oct-2013		13-Dec-2010	MOVED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)

Taxonomic Decision for Synonymy

• Fischer, J.B. 1829. Synopsis Mammalium. Stuttgardtiae : J.G. Cottae xlii 752 pp. [186-187]
• Hickman, G.C. 1981. National mammal guides: a review of references to Recent faunas. Mammal Review 11: 53-85 (citation of other works giving taxonomic arrangements and synonymies for C. vulpes)

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

Extra Distribution Information

Introduced from UK.

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Necrophagous, nocturnal, omnivore, peridomestic, predator, subtropical, temperate, terrestrial, territorial.

Extra Ecological Information

Capable of limited burrowing and arboreal behaviour.

 

General References

Baker, G.D. & Degabrielle, R. 1987. The diet of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Eldorado Hills of north-east Victoria. Victorian Naturalist 104: 39-42

Brown, G.W. & Triggs, B.E. 1990. Diets of wild canids and foxes in East Gippsland 1983-1987, using scat analysis. Australian Mammalogy 13: 209-213

Bubela, T., Bartell, R. & Muller, W. 1998. Factors affecting thetrappability of red foxes in Kosciusko National Park. Wildlife Research 25: 199-208

Bubela, T.M., Dickman, C.R. & Newsome, A.E. 1998. Diet and winter foraging behaviour of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in alpine and subalpine New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy 20: 321-330

Bueler, L.E. 1974. Wild Dogs of the World. London : Constable 274 pp.

Catling, P.C. 1988. Similarities and contrasts in the diets of foxes, Vulpes vulpes, and cats, Felis catus, relative to fluctuating prey populations and drought. Australian Wildlife Research 15: 307-317

Catling, P.C. & Burt, R.J. 1995. Why are red foxes absent from some eucalypt forests in eastern New South Wales? Wildlife Research 22: 535-546

Coman, B.J. 1988. The age structure of a sample of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes L.) taken by hunters in Victoria. Australian Wildlife Research 15: 223-229

Coman, B.J., Robinson, J. & Beaumont, C. 1991. Home range, dispersal and density of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes L.) in central Victoria. Wildlife Research 18: 215-223

Croft, J.D. & Hone, L.J. 1978. The stomach contents of foxes, Vulpes vulpes, collected in New South Wales. Australian Wildlife Research 5: 85-92

Dickman, C.R. 1996. Impact of exotic generalist predators on the native fauna of Australia. Wildlife Biology 2: 185-195

Green, K. & Osborne, W.S. 1981. The diet of foxes, Vulpes vulpes (L.), in relation to abundance of prey above the winter snowline in New South Wales. Australian Wildlife Research 8: 349-360

Holden, C. & Mutze, G. 2002. Impact of rabbit haemorrhagic disease in introduced predators in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia. Wildlife Research 29: 615-626

Jarman, P. 1986. The red fox - an exotic large predator. pp. 45-61 in Kitching, R.L. (ed.). The Ecology of Exotic Animals and Plants. Some Australian Case Histories. Brisbane : Wiley.

Kinnear, J.E., Onus, M.L. & Sumner, N.R. 1998. Fox control and rock-wallaby population dynamics - II. An update. Australian Wildlife Research 25: 81-88

Letts, G.A., Bassingthwaighte, A. & de Vos, W.E.L. 1979. Feral Animals in the Northern Territory. Report of the Board of Inquiry 1979. N.T. : Govt. Printer xvi 234 pp.

Lloyd, H.G. 1980. The Red Fox. London : B.T. Batsford 320 29 pls.

Long, J.L. 1972. Introduced birds and mammals in Western Australia. Agricultural Protection Board Western Australia Technical Service 1: 1-30

Lowe, D.W. 1982. The analysis of 701 fox scats from Morialta Conservation Park, South Australia. South Australian Naturalist 56: 52-57

Lugton, I.W. 1993. Diet of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in south-west New South Wales, with relevance to lamb predation. Rangeland Journal 15: 39-47

Lunney, D., Triggs, B.., Eby, P. & Ashby, E. 1990. Analysis of scats of dogs Canis familiaris and foxes Vulpes vulpes in coastal forests near Bega, New South Wales. Australian Wildlife Research 17: 61-68

Mahon, P.S., Banks, P.B. & Dickman, C. 1998. Population indices for wild carnivores: a critical study in sand-dune habitat, south-western Queensland. Wildlife Research 25: 11-22

May, S.A. & Norton, T.W. 1996. Influences of fragmentation and disturbance on the potential impact of feral predators on native fauna in Australian forest ecosystems. Wildlife Research 23: 387-400

McIntosh, D.L. 1963. Food of the fox in the Canberra district. CSIRO Wildlife Research 8: 1-20

Meek, P.D. & Triggs, B. 1998. The food of foxes, dogs and cats on two peninsulas in Jervis Bay, New South Wales. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 120: 117-127

Pech, R.P. & Hood, G.M. 1998. Foxes, rabbits, alternative prey and rabbit calicivirus disease: consequences of a new biological control agent for an outbreaking species in Australia. Journal of Applied Ecology 35: 434-453

Phillips, M. & Catling, P.C. 1992. Home range and activity patterns of red foxes in Nadgee Nature Reserve. Wildlife Research 27: 55-57

Priddel, D. & Wheeler, R. 1997. Efficacy of fox control in reducing the mortality of released captive-reared malleefowl, Leipoa ocellata. Wildlife Research 24: 469-482

Rolls, E.C. 1969. They All Ran Wild. The Story of Pests on the Land in Australia. Sydney : Angus & Robertson 444 pp. 21 pls.

Ryan, G.E. & Croft, J.D. 1974. Observations on the food of the fox, Vulpes vulpes (L.), in Kinchega National Park, Menindee, N.S.W. Australian Wildlife Research 1: 89-94

Saunders, G., Coman, B., Kinnear, J. & Braysher, M. 1995. Managing vertebrate pests: foxes. Canberra : Australian Government Publishing Service 141 pp.

Strong, B.W. & Low, W.A. 1983. A short note on the distribution of the fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the southern Northern Territory. Northern Territory Naturalist 6: 20-23

Thompson, M.B. 1983. Populations of the Murray River tortoise Emydura (Chelodina): the effect of egg predation by the red fox, Vulpes vulpes. Australian Wildlife Research 10: 363-371

Thomson, P.C., Marlow, N.J., Rose, K., & Kok, N.E. 2000. The effectiveness of a large-scale baiting campaign and an evaluation of a buffer zone strategy for fox control. Wildlife Research 27: 465-472

Triggs, B., Brunner, H. & Cullen, J.M. 1984. The food of the fox, dog and cat in Croajingalong National Park, southeastern Victoria. Australian Wildlife Research 11: 491-499

Wallis, R.L. & Brunner, H. 1987. Changes in mammalian prey of foxes, Vulpes vulpes (Carnivora: Canidae) over 12 years in a forest park near Melbourne, Victoria. Australian Mammalogy 10: 43-44

Zimen, E. (ed.) 1980. The Red Fox, Symposium on behaviour and ecology. The Hague : Junk vi 285 pp.

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Fox)

Clayton, M., Wombey, J.C., Mason, I.J., Chesser, R.T. & Wells, A. 2006. CSIRO List of Australian Vertebrates: A Reference with Conservation Status. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing iv 162 pp. [114] (Red Fox)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
16-Oct-2013		13-Dec-2010	MOVED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)

• Canis vulpes Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundem classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentis, synonymis, locis. Editio decima, reformata. Holmiae : Laurentii Salvii Vol. 1 10 Edn., 824 pp. [40].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown (not found in ZIUU or NHRM), 'Europa, Asia, Africa'; Thomas (1911: 134) identified the type locality as 'Sweden (Upsala)'.

  Type locality references:

  Thomas, O. 1911. The mammals of the tenth edition of Linnaeus; an attempt to fix the types of the genera and the exact bases and localities of the species. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1911: 120-158.
• Canis vulpes crucigera Bechstein, J.M. 1789. Gemeinnützige Naturgeschichte Deutschlands nach allen drey Reichen. Ein Handbuch zur deutlichern und vollständigern Gelbstbelehrung besonders für Forstmändigern Jugendlehrer und Ockonomen. Erster Band welcher die nöthigen Vorkenntnisse und die Geschicte der Säugthiere enthält. Leipzig : S.L. Crusius xvi 842 pp. 17 pls. [250] [recorded from Australia by de Vos, A., Manville, R.H. & Van Gelder, R.G. 1956. Introduced mammals and their influence on native biota. Zoologica N.Y. 41: 163–194 [179]].

  Type data:

   Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown, 'Thüringen', S Europe.

  Secondary source:

   de Vos, A., Manville, R.H. & Van Gelder, R.G. 1956. Introduced mammals and their influence on native biota. Zoologica (New York) N.Y. 41: 163-194.

 

Distribution

States

Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia

IBRA

ACT, NSW, NT, Qld, SA, Vic, WA: Australian Alps (AA), Avon Wheatbelt (AW), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Broken Hill Complex (BHC), Burt Plain (BRT), Carnarvon (CAR), Channel Country (CHC), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Cobar Peneplain (CP), Central Ranges (CR), Desert Uplands (DEU), Darling Riverine Plains (DRP), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Esperance Plains (ESP), Eyre Yorke Block (EYB), Finke (FIN), Flinders Lofty Block (FLB), Gascoyne (GAS), Gawler (GAW), Gibson Desert (GD), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Jarrah Forest (JF), Kanmantoo (KAN), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), MacDonnell Ranges (MAC), Mallee (MAL), Murray Darling Depression (MDD), Mitchell Grass Downs (MGD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Mulga Lands (ML), Murchison (MUR), Nandewar (NAN), Naracoorte Coastal Plain (NCP), New England Tablelands (NET), NSW North Coast (NNC), NSW South Western Slopes (NSS), Nullarbor (NUL), Pilbara (PIL), Riverina (RIV), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Coastal Plain (SCP), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Highlands (SEH), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields (SSD), Stony Plains (STP), Swan Coastal Plain (SWA), Victorian Midlands (VM), Victorian Volcanic Plain (VVP), Warren (WAR), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Ecological Descriptors

Necrophagous, nocturnal, omnivore, peridomestic, predator, subtropical, temperate, terrestrial, territorial.

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
16-Oct-2013		13-Dec-2010	MOVED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)