Hill fox

{{Short description|Subspecies of carnivore}}

{{Subspeciesbox

| name = Hill fox

| image = Keulemans hill fox.png

| image_caption = A depiction of an individual done by John Gerrard Keulemans in 1890

| genus = Vulpes

| species = vulpes

| species_link = Red fox

| subspecies = montana

| authority = Pearson, 1836

| synonyms = {{species list

|Vulpes vulpes nepalensis|J. E. Gray, 1837

|Vulpes vulpes himalaicus|Ogilby, 1837

|Vulpes vulpes alopex|Blanford, 1888

|Vulpes vulpes waddelli|Bonhote, 1906

|Vulpes vulpes ladacensis|Matschie, 1907}}

}}

The hill fox{{Cite web |title=Hill Fox - Vulpes vulpes montana |url=https://observation.org/species/719677/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=Observation.org |language=en}} (Vulpes vulpes montana),{{Cite web |title=Vulpes vulpes montana (Pearson 1836) - Encyclopedia of Life |url=https://eol.org/pages/1270437 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=eol.org}} also known as the hill red fox, or the Himalayan red fox,{{Cite web |title=Himalayan Red Fox (Subspecies Vulpes vulpes montana) |url=https://uk.inaturalist.org/taxa/1308322-Vulpes-vulpes-montana |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=iNaturalist United Kingdom |language=en-GB}} is a subspecies of the red fox that is native to parts of the Himalayan Mountain Range and Karakoram Mountain Range. It has two noticeable populations: one being in northeastern India, far southern Nepal, and far northern Bangladesh. The other is in portions of far northwestern India, and northeastern Pakistan. Populations may be present in way far southwestern China, and in other areas of the Himalayas.{{Cite web |title=Vulpes vulpes montana (Pearson, 1836) |url=https://www.gbif.org/species/6164301 |access-date=2023-06-15 |website=www.gbif.org |language=en}} Its natural range is made up of rocky terrain, low grasslands, and tundra within a temperate climate.{{Cite web |last=ENVPK |date=2021-05-04 |title=Ecosystem Zones and Climatic Biomes of Pakistan |url=https://www.envpk.com/ecosystem-zones-and-climatic-biomes-of-pakistan/ |access-date=2023-06-15 |language=en-US}} The hill fox is differentiated from the nominate subspecies by having a smaller sized body, smaller skull, teeth, and by having rough or coarse hair. Its feet hair are mixed with softer, woolly hair.{{Cite journal |last=Pocock |first=Reginald Innes |date=1941 |title=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Mammalia Volume 2, Carnivora: Aeluroidea, Arctoidea |url=https://archive.org/details/PocockMammalia2 |journal=The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma |volume=2 |via=Internet Archive}} It is occasionally known to build dens near human-urbanized areas.{{Cite journal|last1=Zaman|first1=Muhammad|last2=Tolhurst|first2=Bryony|last3=Zhu |first3=Mengyan|last4=Jiang|first4=Guangshun|date=May 22, 2020 |title=Den-site selection at multiple scales by the red fox (Vulpes vulpes subsp. montana) in a patchy human-dominated landscape |url=https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/files/13675951/Zaman_et_al_2020_proof.pdf |journal=Global Ecology and Conservation |volume=23 |pages=3 |doi=10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01136 |s2cid=219785643 |via=ScienceDirect|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020GEcoC..2301136Z }} Additionally, researchers found these foxes in Shigar valley, Karakorum Range, Pakistan and studied their living habits and their locations of dens. Their studies showed that in their resting state 83.33% of the foxes have a den in a grass/bare habitat.” Many Vulpes Vulpes Montanas are high altitude animals and they have many mechanism adaptations due to their environment. Studies have shown that “many high-altitude animals reduced O2 demand by suppressing total metabolism to compensate for a reduced cellular O2 supply as a response to hypoxia.” {{Cite journal |last1=T |first1=Lyu |last2=X |first2=Yang |last3=H |first3=Zhang |title=Comparative transcriptomics of high-altitude Vulpes and their low-altitude relatives |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |date=2022 |volume=10 |doi=10.3389/fevo.2022.999411 |doi-access=free }} There are many studies that take account of their genetic information to understand their evolution and adaptation in high-altitude habitats. One study used, “blood samples obtained from a wild female red fox captured from Lhasa in Tibet, China. Qinghai--Tibet Plateau is the highest plateau in the world with an average elevation above 3500 m.” {{Cite journal |last1=J |first1=Zhang |last2=H |first2=Zhang |last3=C |first3=Zhao |last4=L |first4=Chen |last5=W |first5=Sha |last6=G |first6=Liu |title=The complete mitochondrial genome sequence of the Tibetan red fox (Vulpes vulpes montana). |journal=Mitochondrial DNA |date=2015 |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=739–741 |doi=10.3109/19401736.2013.845766|pmid=24456141 |s2cid=30430769 }} In this study they analyzed the sequences of their genes and found a gene that corresponds to their ability to adapt in their environments.