Island Gray Fox Skull Replica

$91.00

The Island Gray Fox is native to 6 of the Channel islands off the coast of California. They eat small mammals, birds, invertebrates and some plants. In 2003, it was estimated that as few as 200 individuals of this species remain.

Description

Island Gray Fox Skull Replica measures 3.7 inches. Island Gray Fox Skull Replica is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium and jaw). Made in the USA. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull.

Island Gray fox or Urocyon littoralis or is significantly smaller than the gray fox and is probably the smallest fox in North America, averaging slightly smaller than the swift and kit foxes.

Typically, the head-and-body length is 19 to 19.5 in., shoulder height 4.5 to 6 in., and the tail is 4.5 to 11.5 in. long. This is due to the fact that the Island gray fox or Urocyon littoralis generally has two fewer tail vertebrae than the gray fox.

Island gray fox or Urocyon littoralis weighs between 2.2 and 6.2 lb. The male is always larger than the female. The largest of the subspecies occurs on Santa Catalina Island and the smallest on Santa Cruz Island.

Island gray fox or Urocyon littoralis has gray fur on its head, a ruddy red coloring on its sides, white fur on its belly, throat and the lower half of its face, and a black stripe on the dorsal surface of its tail. In general the coat is darker and duller hued than that of the gray fox.

Island gray fox or Urocyon littoralis molts once a year between August and November.

Before the first molt pups are woolly and have a generally darker coat than adult foxes. A brown phase, with the grey and black fur of the body replaced by a sandy brown and a deeper brown, may occur in the San Clemente Island and San Nicolas Island populations.

It is unclear if this is a true color phase, a change that occurs with age, or possibly a change that occurs because of interactions with Opuntia cactus spines that become embedded in the pelt.

Island gray fox or Urocyon littoralis typically forms monogamous breeding pairs, which are frequently seen together beginning in January and through the breeding season, from late February to early March.

The gestation period is 50 to 63 days. The female island gray fox gives birth in a den, a typical litter having one to five pups, with an average of two or three. Pups are born in the spring and emerge from the den in early summer; the mother lactates for 7 to 9 weeks.

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Additional information

Weight 1.5 lbs
Dimensions 3.7 in
Island Gray Fox Facts

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Urocyon
Species: U. littoralis
Binomial name: Urocyon littoralis
Conservation status: Near Threatened