Ruppell's fox (Vulpes ruppelli) is found from Morocco through Egypt through Saudi Arabia through southern Iraq and southern Iran to western Pakistan. The color is neutral to match its desert habitat. The ears are proportionally very large. The typical weight is about 6 pounds.

Vulpes genus (true foxes) contains 12 different species. True foxes are native to Africa, North America, northern South America, and Eurasia. A bushy tail and a very pointed muzzle are characteristics common to this genus.

Wild Dog family contains thirty-four species of foxes, dogs, and wolves that are found in almost all areas of the world. The Hyenas are usually placed in a separate family.

Below is a partial list of the species in the dog family:
AFRICAN SPECIES (ELEVEN SPECIES COMPLETE):

SPECIES - - - - - - - LOCATION
Fennecus zerda (Fennec Fox) - Sahara Desert, Asia Minor
Canis adustus (Side Stripe Jackal) - Central and south central Africa
Canis aureus (Asiatic Jackal) - North Africa and Asia
Canis mesomelas (Black-Backed Jackal) - South and east Africa
Canis simensis (Simien Fox) - Northeast Africa
Lycaon pictus (Hunting Dog) - Central and south central Africa
Otocyon megalotis(Bat Ear Fox) - Northeast and southwest Africa
Vulpes chama (Cape Fox) - South Africa
Vulpes pallida (Sand Fox) - Equatorial Africa
Vulpes ruppelli (Ruppells Sand Fox) - Northeast Africa
Vulpes vulpes (Red Fox) - Europe and north Africa

NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES (EIGHT SPECIES COMPLETE):
SPECIES - - - - - - - LOCATION
Alopex lagopus - (Arctic Fox) - Circumpolar in extreme north
Canis latrans - (Coyote) - Alaska to Mexico to New York
Canis lupus - (Gray Wolf) - Canada, Alaska and local in west United States
Canis niger - (Red Wolf) - East Texas to southern Illinois
Erocyon cinereogenteus - (Gray Fox) Much of North America and north Mexico
Vulpes macrotis - (Kit Fox) - Southwest United States and north Mexico
Vulpes fulva - (Red Fox) - Alaska, Canada, and most of United States
Vulpes velox - (Swift Fox) - Central Plains of North America

MISCELLANEOUS OLD WORLD SPECIES (INCOMPLETE LIST OF EUROPE AND ASIA):
SPECIES - - - - - - LOCATION
Alopex corsac - (Korsak Fox) - Mongolia/Manchuria/Volga
Canis aureus - (Asiatic Jackal) - Asia and north Africa
Canis dingo - (Dingo) - Australia
Canis hallstromi - (Forest Dingo) - New Guinea
Cuon alpinus - (Asian Red Wolf) - Korea, India, Java, etc
. Nycterautes procyonoides - (Raccoon Dog) - Manchuria, China, Japan

MISCELLANEOUS SOUTH AMERICAN SPECIES (INCOMPLETE LIST):
SPECIES - - - - - - LOCATION
Chrysocyon brachyurus - (Maned Wolf) - Southern Brazil, Argentina, etceteras
Speothos venaticus - (Bush Dog) - Panama to Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay
(Urocyon cinereoargenteus) - Spreading to South America from North America
Atelocynus microtis (Small ear) Amazon Basin (rare)

There are several additional species in the Dusicyon(4-8 ) and Cerdocyon(1) genera, but the taxonomy is not clear.

Dogs and Foxes and Jackal (Family Canoidae) group contains thirty-five species found in North American, Africa, South America, and Eurasia. The timberwolf is the best known wild member of this family. Familiar breeds of dogs make up the domesticated forms. To facilitate study of this interesting family, it has been arbitrarily broken it into two subfamilies as follows: Wild Dogs, Foxes, etc. of the world; and domesticated dogs. A third group, extinct Canoidae, has also been included.

Carnivores (Order Carnivora) are found naturally worldwide, except for Australia which has an introduced wild dog. Carnivores are characterized by their habits of feeding on other animals. They usually can run quickly and capture their food with the help of their claws and jaws. Typical carnivores are dogs, cats, and bears.

Mammals (Class Mammalia), together with the birds, are among the youngest of the classes of animals. In species count, mammals number about fifty-one hundred, trailing reptiles (approximately fifty-five hundred), fish (approximately eighteen thousand), and birds (approximately eighty-six hundred).

There are three sub-types of mammals:

monotremes, the most primitive:
Develop in reptilian-like eggs and suckle milk emerging (i.e., spiny anteater, duckbilled platypus)
marsupials
Newborn emerges very underdeveloped and continue to mature in a pouch on its mother's abdomen (i.e., opossums, koala, kangaroo)
placental
Embryo develops within the uterus of the female and is dependent on a placenta for nutrition and waste removal (i.e., humans, lions, monkeys)

About sixty-five million years ago, the Tertiary era produced thirty-five orders of mammals. Of this number, eighteen have survived to represent Earth's most diversified as well as its most highly developed classification of animals.

Extinction of mammals is fast becoming a serious issue. Duff and Lawson present a list of forty-one extinct species that reached extinction prior to 1800. These forty-one species are not acknowledged in the counts of the various families. Duff and Lawson also present a list of forty-six species including three gazelles, one zebra, one seal, one deer, and one wolf that have probably gone extinct since 1800. These forty-six species are included in the family counts. Science is adding about forty to fifty new species a year to the list. Many of these are the result of divisions of prior species; some are recent discoveries.

Mammals owe their survival to adaptive capabilities that include the ability to exploit whatever sources of food are available to them, as well as their ability to adjust to various climes. Food specialization influenced evolution to such a great extent that the teeth structure can and has been used to provide extensive information on the food needs and various lifestyles of extinct species.

Despite the vast diversity among mammals in terms of size, habitats and adaptations, they share without exception many characteristics such as:

a. body hair
b. mammary glands
c. certain skull characteristics
d. four limbs that permit speed
e. parallel not perpendicular limbs
f. compartmentalized internal organs
g. a four-chambered heart and pulmonary circulation

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

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