{{Short description|Species of carnivore}} {{Speciesbox | name = Culpeo | image = Culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus culpaeus) Lo Barnechea 2.jpg | image_caption = Culpeo in the Andes of Chile | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Lucherini, M. |date=2016 |title=''Lycalopex culpaeus'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T6929A85324366 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T6929A85324366.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = CITES_A2 | status2_system = CITES | status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Appendices {{!}} CITES|url=https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php|access-date=2022-01-14|website=cites.org}}</ref> | genus = Lycalopex | species = culpaeus | authority = (Molina, 1782) | range_map = Culpeo area.png | range_map_caption = Culpeo range }}
The '''culpeo''' ('''''Lycalopex culpaeus'''''), also known as '''Culpeo zorro''', '''Andean zorro''', '''Andean fox''', '''Paramo wolf''',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Guntiñas |first1=Marta |last2=Lozano |first2=Jorge |last3=Cisneros |first3=Rodrigo |last4=Llorente |first4=Esther |last5=Malo |first5=Aurelio F. |title=Ecology of the culpeo (''Lycalopex culpaeus''): a synthesis of existing knowledge |journal=Hystrix: The Italian Journal of Mammalogy |date=2021 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=5–17 |doi=10.4404/hystrix-00388-2020 |doi-access=free}}</ref> '''Andean wolf''',<ref name="lib.dr.iastate.edu">{{cite thesis |title=Comparative ecology of two South American foxes, 'Dusicvon ariseus' and 'Culpaeus' |first=Warren E. |last=Johnson |type=Doctoral |publisher=Iowa State University |date=1992 |page=2 |access-date=July 10, 2021 |url=https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11006&context=rtd}}</ref> and '''colpeo fox''',<ref name="lib.dr.iastate.edu"/> is a species of South American fox. Despite the name, it is not a true fox, but more closely related to wolves and jackals. Its appearance resembles that of foxes due to convergent evolution.
The culpeo's diet consists largely of rodents, rabbits, birds and lizards, and to a lesser extent, plant material and carrion. They may prey on Andean flamingos and baby vicuña. The culpeo sometimes attacks farm animals, among them sheep, goats and poultry; for this, it is hunted in rural Chile and Argentina.<ref name="canids">{{cite book |title=The Biology and Conservation of Wild Canids |last1=Macdonald |first1=David Whyte |first2=Claudio |last2=Sillero-Zubiri |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-851555-5 |page=244}}</ref> In some regions, it has become rare, but overall the species is not threatened with extinction.
The culpeo was domesticated by the Selkʼnam people of Tierra del Fuego, producing the Fuegian dog which became extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century.<ref name="Petrigh & Fugassa 2013"/>
==Description== thumb|Culpeo skull
The culpeo is a canid intermediate in size between a red fox and a coyote. It is the second-largest native canid on the continent after the maned wolf. In appearance, it bears many similarities to the widely recognized red fox. It has grey and reddish fur, a white chin, reddish legs and a stripe on its back that may be barely visible. The average weight of the male is {{cvt|11.4|kg}}, while the typically smaller females average {{cvt|8.4|kg}}. Overall, a weight range of {{cvt|5|to|13.5|kg}} has been reported. Total length can range from {{cvt|94|to|133|cm}}, including a tail of {{cvt|32|to|44|cm}} in length.<ref name="Burnie">{{cite book |editor1-last=Burnie |editor1-first=D. |editor2-last=Wilson |editor2-first=D. E. |date=2005 |title=Animal: The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife |url=https://archive.org/details/animal00davi/ |publisher=DK Adult |isbn=0789477645 |page=[https://archive.org/details/animal00davi/page/182 182]}}</ref> The pelt has a grizzled appearance. The neck and shoulders are often tawny to rufous in color, while the upper back is dark. The bushy tail has a black tip.<ref name="Novaro">{{cite journal |first=Andrés J. |last=Novaro |date=24 October 1997 |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-558-01-0001.pdf |title=Pseudalopex culpaeus |journal=Mammalian Species |issue=558 |pages=1–8 |publisher=American Society of Mammalogists |via=www.science.smith.edu |doi=10.2307/3504483 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514222950/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-558-01-0001.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-14 |jstor=3504483 |bibcode=1997MamSp.558....1N |doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Range== The culpeo's range extends from the southern regions of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego in the south to Ecuador and Peru in the north, with some populations extending into southern Colombia. It is also found in the Sierras Grandes mountain range in Córdoba, Argentina.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Zorro Colorado'' |url=https://www.argentina.gob.ar/sites/default/files/ficha-zorro-colorado72.pdf |website=Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarollo Sustentable de Argentina |language=es |access-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}</ref> It is most common on the western slopes of the Andes, where it inhabits open country and deciduous forests.
==Habitat== The culpeo lives in a wide variety of habitats of western South America. They are found in broadleaf ''Nothofagus'' temperate rainforest, sclerophyllous matorral, deserts, chaparrals, and plateaus, like the Altiplano, up to the tree line ({{convert|4800|m|ft}}).<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" />
==Diet== The culpeo is an opportunistic predator that will take any variety of prey. It mainly feeds on rodents (including common degus) and lagomorphs (especially the introduced European rabbit and European hare); however, it occasionally feeds on domestic livestock and young guanacos.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Novaro |first1=Andres J. |last2=Moraga |first2=Claudio A. |last3=Briceño |first3=Cristobal |last4=Funes |first4=Martin C. |last5=Marino |first5=Andrea |title=First records of culpeo (''Lycalopex culpaeus'') attacks and cooperative defense by guanacos (''Lama guanicoe'') |journal=Mammalia |date=2009 |volume=73 |issue=2 |pages=148–150 |doi=10.1515/MAMM.2009.016 |s2cid=84525738 |hdl=11336/102311 |hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Lycalopex culpaeus Culpeo">{{cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lycalopex_culpaeus/ |title=Lycalopex culpaeus (Culpeo) |website=Animal Diversity Web}}</ref> They will also feed on insects, birds, lizards, fruit, and carrion of llamas and vicuñas.<ref name="Lycalopex culpaeus Culpeo"/> Culpeos are considered beneficial because they are significant predators of the rabbits introduced in 1915; such introduced rabbit populations are believed to have allowed culpeos to spread from the Andean foothills across the Patagonian plain.<ref>Alderton, David. Foxes, Wolves, and Wild Dogs of the World. London: Blandford, 1998. p175-6.</ref> They sometimes take young lambs up to 1 week old. In limited studies, the larger culpeo appears to dominate potential competitors, including South American gray foxes, Geoffroy's cats, pampas cats, grisons and various raptorial birds.<ref name= "Novaro"/> In the southeastern Argentine Patagonia region, culpeos generally tend to consume more of the introduced European hare than the South American gray fox does year-round, while the gray fox tends to consume more rodents. However, during colder seasons, the culpeo's diet overlaps more with the gray fox due to a lack of variety in prey, thus causing prey partitioning as the culpeos use their size advantage to exclude the gray fox from areas with higher concentrations of prey.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Zapata |first1=Sonia C. |last2=Travaini |first2=Alejandro |last3=Delibes |first3=Miguel |last4=Martínez-Peck |first4=Rolando |date=August 2005 |title=Food habits and resource partitioning between grey and culpeo foxes in southeastern Argentine Patagonia |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01650520500129836 |journal=Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment |language=en |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=97–103 |doi=10.1080/01650520500129836 |bibcode=2005SNFE...40...97Z |issn=0165-0521 |hdl=10261/50241 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Its range also overlaps that of the much larger puma, but the size difference ensures that the two species have limited competition. They are known to eat the carcasses of vicuñas. Culpeos have also been observed preying upon introduced beavers in Tierra del Fuego.<ref name="Tadich-et-al-2017">{{cite journal |last1=Tadich |first1=Tamara A. |last2=Novaro |first2=Andrés J. |last3=Kunzle |first3=Pablo |last4=Chacón |first4=Mauricio |last5=Barrientos |first5=Miguel |last6=Briceño |first6=Cristóbal |title=Agonistic behavior between introduced beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and endemic culpeo fox (''Pseudalopex culpaeus lycoides'') in Tierra del Fuego Island and implications |journal=Acta Ethologica |publisher={{interlanguage link|Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida|pt|ISPA - Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida|lt=ISPA}} CRL Portuguese Ethological Society (Springer) |volume=21 |issue=1 |date=2017-11-03 |issn=0873-9749 |doi=10.1007/s10211-017-0278-z |pages=29–34 |s2cid=11176126 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320846376 |hdl=11336/95336 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> During a period of drought in central Chile's scrublands lagomorphs, coati, goats, and cattle make up a large amount of their diet.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Gabriel |last1=Lobos |first2=Gianina |last2=Tapia |first3=Alejandra |last3=Alzamora |first4=Nico |last4=Rebolledo |first5=Hugo |last5=Salinas |first6=Juan Carlos |last6=Trujillos |first7=Gustavo |last7=Girón |first8=Rafael |last8=Ascanio |date=December 2020 |title=Dieta del zorro culpeo Lycalopex culpaeus (Molina, 1782) durante la megasequía de Chile central: rol del ganado y evidencia de una alta interacción trófica entre mamíferos carnívoros |language=es |trans-title= |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349129047 |journal=Mastozoología Neotropical |volume=27 |number=2 |pages=319–327 |doi=10.31687/saremMN.20.27.2.0.10}}</ref>
==Reproduction== The typical mating period is between August and October. After a gestation period of 55–60 days, the female gives birth usually to between two and five pups.
==Classification==
===Subspecies=== thumb|Subspecies distribution: ''L. c. reissii'' (green); ''L. c. andinus'' (yellow); ''L. c. smithersi'' (blue); ''L. c. culpaeus'' (black); ''L. c. magellanicus'' (cyan); ''L. c. lycoides'' (red) {| class="wikitable" |+ style="text-align: centre;" | ''Lycalopex culpaeus'' ! Subspecies !! Authority !! Range !! Image |- style="vertical-align: top;" | {{ill|Altiplano culpeo|es|Lycalopex culpaeus andinus}} {{small|''L. c. andinus''}} | (Thomas, 1914)<ref name="Thomas 1914">{{cite journal |last=Thomas |first=O. |date=1914 |title=On various South-American mammals. |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |volume=13 |issue=75 |pages=345–363 |doi=10.1080/00222931408693492}}</ref> | Found in Peru, Bolivia, northern Chile and northern Argentina | frameless|200px |- style="vertical-align: top;" | Culpeo {{small|''{{ill|L. c. culpaeus|es|Lycalopex culpaeus culpaeus}}''}} | (Molina, 1782)<ref>{{cite book |last=Molina |first=G. I. |date=1782 |title=Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chili |trans-title= |publisher=Stamperia di S. Tommaso d'Aquino |page=293 |language=it}}</ref> | Found in central Chile and central Argentina | frameless|200px |- style="vertical-align: top;" | {{ill|Fuegian culpeo|es|Lycalopex culpaeus lycoides}} {{small|''L. c. lycoides''}} | (Philippi, 1896)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Philippi |first=R. A. |date=1896 |title=Dos animales nuevos de la fauna Chilena |trans-title= |journal=An. Univ. Santiago de Chile |volume=94 |pages=541–546 |language=es}}</ref> | Found in Tierra del Fuego, in Chile and Argentina | frameless|200px |- style="vertical-align: top;" | {{ill|Patagonian culpeo|es|Lycalopex culpaeus magellanicus}} {{small|''L. c. magellanicus''}} | (Gray, 1837)<ref name="Novaro"/> | Found in southern Chile and southern Argentina | frameless|200px |- style="vertical-align: top;" | {{ill|Ecuadorian culpeo|es|Lycalopex culpaeus reissii}} {{small|''L. c. reissii''}} | (Hilzheimer, 1906)<ref name="Novaro"/> | Found in Ecuador and southern Colombia | frameless|200px |- style="vertical-align: top;" | {{ill|Achalan red fox|es|Lycalopex culpaeus smithersi}} {{small|''L. c. smithersi''}} | (Thomas, 1914)<ref name="Thomas 1914"/> | Found in the Sierras Pampeanas in Argentina | frameless|200px |}
===Taxonomy=== The taxonomy of the culpeo has been the topic of debate due to their high phenetic variability and the scarcity of research, among other things. Over the past three decades, they have been placed variably in the genera ''Dusicyon'' (Clutton-Brock, ''et al.'', 1976; Wozencraft, 1989), ''Canis'' (Langguth, 1975; Van Gelder, 1978), ''Pseudalopex'' (Berta, 1987; Wozencraft, 1993; Tedford ''et al.'', 1995) and ''Lycalopex'' (Zunino, 1995; Wozencraft, 2005).<ref name=2004IUCNReport>{{Cite book |last1=Jiménez |first1=J.E. |last2=Novaro |first2= A.J. |chapter=Chapter 3.4: Culpeo (''Pseudalopex culpaeus'') |year=2004 |editor1-last=Sillero-Zubiri |editor1-first=C. |editor2-last=Hoffmann |editor2-first= M. |editor3-last=Macdonald |editor3-first=D.W. |title=Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals, and Dogs |chapter-url=http://www.canids.org/species/Culpeo.pdf |url=http://www.canids.org/cap/index.htm |access-date=2012-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111006222952/http://www.canids.org/cap/index.htm |archive-date=2011-10-06}}</ref>
This canid, like other South American foxes, is still sometimes classified as a member of the genus ''Pseudalopex''.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" /> As ''Pseudalopex'' and ''Lycalopex'' have largely come to describe the same genus, either classification is acceptable, although the modern practice is to give ''Lycalopex'' prominence.<ref>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |pages=579–581 |id=14000799}}</ref>
{{clade |style=font-size:85%; line-height:85% |label1=Cerdocyonina<ref name=Wang2007/> |1={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |label1= |1=Short-eared dog |2={{clade |label1= |1=Crab-eating fox |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Sechuran fox |2='''Culpeo'''<ref name="lindblad-toh2005" /> }} |2={{clade |1=Pampas fox |2=South American gray fox }} }} |2=Darwin's fox }} |2=Hoary fox }} }} }} |2={{clade |label1= |1={{clade |1=Maned wolf |2=Bush dog }} }} }} }}
==Domestication== The culpeo was domesticated by the Selkʼnam people of Tierra del Fuego, producing the Fuegian dog.<ref name="Petrigh & Fugassa 2013">{{cite journal |first1=Romina S. |last1=Petrigh |first2=Martin H. |last2=Fugassa |title=Molecular identification of a Fuegian dog belonging to the Fagnano Regional Museum ethnographic collection, Tierra del Fuego |journal=Quaternary International |volume=317 |date=December 13, 2013 |pages=14–18 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.030 |bibcode=2013QuInt.317...14P |url=http://fulltext.study/preview/pdf/1041543.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220121042/http://fulltext.study/preview/pdf/1041543.pdf |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |access-date=September 2, 2020}}</ref> They were used in hunting, fishing, and as a source of warmth in shelters.<ref>{{cite book |last=Alonso Marchante |first=José Luis |date=2019 |chapter=Cazadores del viento |trans-chapter=Hunters of the Wind |language=es |title=Selkʼnam: Genocidio y resistencia |trans-title=Selkʼnam: Genocide and Resistance |location=Santiago de Chile; Catalonia |page=75 |isbn=978-956-324-749-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Martial |first=Louis-Ferdinand |author-link=:fr:Louis-Ferdinand Martial |orig-year=1884–1889 |date=2005 |title=Mision al Cabo de Hornos, la expedición científica francesa en la Romanche Julio de 1882 a setiembre de 1883 |trans-title=Mission to Cape Horn, the French scientific expedition in Romanche July 1882 to September 1883 |language=es |title-link=w:es:Expedición científica francesa al Cabo de Hornos (1882-1883) |location=Ushuaia, Argentina |publisher=Zaguier & Urruty Pubs. |page=225}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lothrop |first=Samuel Kirkland |author-link=Samuel Kirkland Lothrop |date=1928 |title=The Indians of Tierra del Feugo |publisher=Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation |series=Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian |volume=X |pages=59–60}}</ref> They became extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century as part of the Selknam genocide.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gigoux |first=Carlos |date=2022 |title="Condemned to Disappear": Indigenous Genocide in Tierra del Fuego |journal=Journal of Genocide Research |volume=24 |number=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1080/14623528.2020.1853359 |url=http://repository.essex.ac.uk/29322/8/CG%20Article.pdf}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed" heights="180"> File:Lycalopex culpaeus 00.jpg|A culpeo in the Antofagasta Region (2010) File:Lycalopex culpaeus andinus - Zorro culpeo.JPG|A culpeo feasting on the carcass of a vicuña at El Tatio, San Pedro de Atacama, the Antofagasta Region (2013) File:Fuegian dog (1863).jpg|Colorized sketch of Tapan, a Fuegian dog, by Philippe Alexandre Jules Künckel d'Herculais (1884) </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Wang2007>{{cite book |last1=Wang |first1=X. |last2=Tedford |first2=R. H. |title=The Behavioural Biology of Dogs |editor1-last=Jensen |editor1-first=Per |publisher=Cabi Publishing |edition=1 |year=2007 |chapter=Ch1-Evolutionary History of Canids |page=11 |isbn=978-1-84593-187-2 |url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=W9UWveqx22IC|page=11}} }}</ref> <ref name="lindblad-toh2005">{{Cite journal |last1=Lindblad-Toh |first1=K. |last2=Wade |first2=C. M. |last3=Mikkelsen |first3=T. S. |last4=Karlsson |first4=E. K. |last5=Jaffe |first5=D. B. |last6=Kamal |first6=M. |last7=Clamp |first7=M. |last8=Chang |first8=J. L. |last9=Kulbokas 3rd |first9=E. J. |year=2005 |title=Genome sequence, comparative analysis and haplotype structure of the domestic dog |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v438/n7069/pdf/nature04338.pdf |journal=Nature |volume=438 |issue=7069 |pages=803–819 |bibcode=2005Natur.438..803L |doi=10.1038/nature04338 |pmid=16341006 |s2cid=4338513 |doi-access=free}}</ref> }}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal |last1=Guntiñas |first1=Marta |last2=Lozano |first2=Jorge |last3=Cisneros |first3=Rodrigo |last4=Narváez |first4=Carlos |last5=Armijos |first5=Jorge |date=July 2017 |title=Feeding ecology of the culpeo in southern Ecuador: wild ungulates being the main prey |journal=Contributions to Zoology |volume=86 |number=2 |pages=169–180 |doi=10.1163/18759866-08602004}} * {{cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Warren E. |last2=Franklin |first2=William L. |date=February 18, 1994 |title=Role of Body Size in the Diets of Sympatric Gray and Culpeo Foxes |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=75 |number=1 |pages=163–174 |doi=10.2307/1382248 |jstor=1382248 |bibcode=1994JMamm..75..163J}} * {{cite journal |last1=Kelt |first1=Douglas A. |last2=Meserve |first2=Peter L. |last3=Previtali |first3=M. Andrea |last4=Milstead |first4=W. Bryan |last5=Lang |first5=Brian K. |last6=Véas |first6=Hector |last7=Gutiérrez |first7=Julio R. |last8=Troncoso |first8=Alejandra J. |last9=Oli |first9=Madan K. |date=2025 |title=The components of predation in Culpeo Foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus), and the value of long-term observations |journal=Therya |volume=16 |number=1 |pages=107–124 |doi=10.12933/therya-25-6150 |issn=2007-3364}} * {{cite journal |last1=Lozano |first1=Jorge |last2=Guntiñas |first2=Marta |last3=Cisneros |first3=Rodrigo |last4=Llorente |first4=Esther |last5=Duro |first5=Adrián |last6=Malo |first6=Aurelio F. |date=2024 |title=Diversity and biogeographical patterns in the diet of the culpeo in South America |journal=Ecology and Evolution |volume=14 |issue=8 |article-number=e70176 |doi=10.1002/ece3.70176 |pmid=39139910 |pmc=11319844 |bibcode=2024EcoEv..1470176L}} * {{cite journal |last=Novaro |first=Andres J. |date=1995 |title=Sustainability of harvest of culpeo foxes in Patagonia |journal=Oryx |volume=29 |number=1 |pages=18–22 |doi=10.1017/S0030605300020822}} * {{cite journal |last1=Pia |first1=Mónica |last2=López |first2=María S. |last3=Novaro |first3=Andrés J. |date=2003 |title=Effects of livestock on the feeding ecology of endemic culpeo foxes (Pseudalopex culpaeus smithersi) in central Argentina |journal=Revista Chilena de Historia Natural |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=313–321 |doi=10.4067/S0716-078X2003000200015 |bibcode=2003RvCHN..7600015P}} * {{cite journal |last1=Salvatori |first1=Valeria |last2=Vaglio-Laurin |first2=Gaia |last3=Meserve |first3=Peter L. |last4=Boitani |first4=Luigi |last5=Campanella |first5=Andrea |date=August 27, 1999 |title=Spatial Organization, Activity, and Social Interactions of Culpeo Foxes (Pseudalopex culpaeus) in North-Central Chile |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=80 |number=3 |pages=980–985 |doi=10.2307/1383268 |jstor=1383268}} * {{cite journal |last1=Zapata |first1=Sonia C. |last2=Travaini |first2=Alejandro |last3=Delibes |first3=Miguel |last4=Martínez-Peck |first4=Rolando |date=2005 |title=Food Habits and Resource Partitioning between Grey and Culpeo Foxes in Southeastern Argentine Patagonia |journal=Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment |volume=40 |number=2 |pages=97–103 |doi=10.1080/01650520500129836 |bibcode=2005SNFE...40...97Z |hdl=10261/50241}} {{refend}}
{{Carnivora|Ca.}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q373558}} {{Authority control}}
Category:South American foxes Category:Mammals of the Andes Category:Mammals of Patagonia Category:Mammals of Argentina Category:Mammals of Bolivia Category:Mammals of Chile Category:Mammals of Colombia Category:Mammals of Ecuador Category:Mammals of Peru Category:Fauna of Tierra del Fuego Category:Carnivorans of South America Category:Necrophages Category:Mammals described in 1782 Category:Least concern biota of South America Category:Fauna of the Chilean Matorral