Canis zerda Skull Replica measures 3.5 inches. Canis zerda Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in USA. Known as Fennec Fox.
The Canis zerda is a small crepuscular fox found in the Sahara Desert of North Africa, the Sinai Peninsula, South East Israel (Arava desert) and the Arabian desert.
Canis zerda most distinctive feature is its unusually large ears, which also serve to dissipate heat. Fennec fox or Vulpes zerda name comes from the Berber-Arabic word (fanak), which means fox.
The Fennec Fox is the smallest species of canid. Its coat, ears, and kidney functions have adapted to high-temperature, low-water, desert environments.
The Canis zerda is the smallest canid species. Females range in head-to-body size from 13.6 to 15.6 in. with a 9.1–9.8 in. long tail and 3.5–3.7 in. long ears, and weigh 2.2–4.2 lb. Males are slightly larger, ranging in head-to-body size from 15.4 to 15.6 in. with a 9.1–9.8 in. long tail and 3.9 in. long ears, weighing at least 2.9 lb.
Its hearing is sensitive enough to hear prey moving underground. It mainly eats insects, small mammals, and birds.
Canis zerda is an omnivore, feeding on small rodents, lizards, geckos, skinks, small birds and their eggs, fruits and also some tubers. It relies on the moisture content of prey, but drinks water when available.
Canis zerda hunts alone and digs in the sand for small vertebrates and insects. Some individuals were observed to bury prey for later consumption and searching for food in the vicinity of human settlements.
Canis zerda digs its den in sand, either in open areas or places sheltered by plants with stable sand dunes. In compacted soils, dens are up to 1,300 sq. ft. large, with up to 15 different entrances.
In some cases, different families interconnect their dens, or locate them close together. In soft, looser sand, dens tend to be simpler with only one entrance leading to a single chamber.
Females give birth between March and June to a litter of one to four pups that open their eyes after 8 to 11 days.
Both female and male care for the pups. Canis zerda communicate by barking, purring, yapping and squeaking. Pups remain in the family even after a new litter is born. The pups are weaned at the age of 61 to 70 days.
As of 2015, the Fennec Fox is classified as Least concern on the IUCN Red List. It is listed in CITES Appendix II and is protected in Morocco and Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt, where it has been documented in several protected areas.
The Fennec Fox is bred commercially as an exotic pet. Commercial breeders remove the pups from their mother to hand-raise them, as tame foxes are more valuable. A breeders’ registry has been set up in the United States to avoid any problems associated with inbreeding.
