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Lycalopex culpaeusculpeo

By Lisa Peterson

Ge­o­graphic Range

Culpeos (Lycalopex cul­paeus) are found in South Amer­ica from Ecuador to south­ern Chile and Ar­gentina. They are found through­out the Andes and the Patag­on­ian steppe of Ar­gentina. They may also occur in the Nar­ino Province of south­ern Colom­bia, but this is still un­cer­tain. (No­varo, 1997; Sal­va­tori, et al., 1999)

Habi­tat

Culpeos are gen­er­al­ists when it comes to habi­tat se­lec­tion. They can be found in the high-al­ti­tude foothills of the Andes and in the val­leys sur­round­ing them. Culpeos have been re­ported from 0 to 4500 m above sea level. Their habi­tat ranges from the forests of west­ern and south­ern South Amer­ica to the desert of the Patag­o­nia re­gion. Scrub and grass­land are also oc­cu­pied by culpeos. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, 1997; Walker, et al., 2007)

  • Range elevation
    0 to 4500 m
    0.00 to 14763.78 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Lycalopex cul­paeus is the largest mem­ber of the genus Lycalopex. Body weight ranges from 3.4 to 14 kg, with larger in­di­vid­u­als oc­cur­ring at higher lat­i­tudes, and males larger and heav­ier on av­er­age than fe­males (11.65 kg com­pared to 7.82 kg, re­spec­tively). Head plus body length ranges from 445 to 925 mm and tail length from 305 to 493 mm. Culpeos vary in color, with lighter in­di­vid­u­als in the north­ern parts of the range. The chin and belly are white to light tawny. The ears, neck, legs, flanks, and top of the head are tawny or red­dish-brown. The area around the tail is usu­ally darker, some­times dark grey. The tail is bushy and grey with a black tip and a darker area near the rump. In the win­ter months, the fur be­comes longer and denser. Larger size and red­dish-brown fur dis­tin­guish culpeos from sim­i­lar species. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, et al., 2009; No­varo, 1997)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • male larger
  • Range mass
    3.4 to 14 kg
    7.49 to 30.84 lb
  • Range length
    445 to 925 mm
    17.52 to 36.42 in

Re­pro­duc­tion

Not much is known about the mat­ing sys­tem of Lycalopex cul­paeus. Closely re­lated Ar­gen­tine gray foxes, Lycalopex griseus, are monog­a­mous, with the mated pair de­fend­ing an ex­clu­sive ter­ri­tory. A sec­ond fe­male may as­sist in tak­ing care of young. An­other mem­ber of this genus, Lycalopex ful­vipes, also ap­pears to be monog­a­mous. (Jimenez, 2006; Nowak, 1999)

Lycalopex cul­paeus fe­males go into heat (es­trus) from early Au­gust to Oc­to­ber and are mon­e­strous. Males pro­duce sperm from June to mid-Oc­to­ber. Ges­ta­tion lasts for 55 to 60 days and the av­er­age lit­ter size is 5.2. New­borns weigh 170 g on av­er­age and are born with their eyes closed. Wean­ing oc­curs at two months and young grow to full size within seven months. Sex­ual ma­tu­rity oc­curs after one year. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, 1997; Nowak, 1999)

  • Breeding interval
    Culpeos breed once yearly.
  • Breeding season
    Mating occurs from early August to October.
  • Range number of offspring
    3 to 8
  • Average number of offspring
    5.2
  • Range gestation period
    55 to 60 days
  • Average weaning age
    2 months
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    1 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    1 years

Not much is known about parental care in Lycalopex cul­paeus. The species is gen­er­ally soli­tary, but it has been re­ported that both par­ents might play a role in the care of off­spring. As in other mam­mals, fe­males nurse and care for the young ex­ten­sively after ges­ta­tion. (No­varo, 1997)

  • Parental Investment
  • altricial
  • male parental care
  • female parental care
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-hatching/birth
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female
  • pre-weaning/fledging
    • provisioning
      • female
    • protecting
      • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Not much is known about the lifes­pan of culpeos. The old­est culpeo dis­cov­ered in the wild was es­ti­mated to be 11 years old. How­ever, the method of aging was not de­fined, so the ac­cu­racy of this es­ti­mate is un­known. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    11 (high) years

Be­hav­ior

Lycalopex cul­paeus is a soli­tary species out­side of the breed­ing sea­son, when mated pairs and their young as­so­ci­ate. Culpeos in Patag­o­nia have been seen mov­ing about 7 km and culpeos in the deserts of north­ern Chile have been recorded mov­ing 21 km Ac­tiv­ity pat­terns vary ge­o­graph­i­cally; culpeos ap­pear to be noc­tur­nal in Ar­gentina, high­land Peru, the Chilean desert and Ma­g­a­l­lanes, but in cen­tral Chile they are di­ur­nal or cre­pus­cu­lar. Culpeos are cur­so­r­ial and ter­res­trial. From sum­mer to au­tumn they are at their high­est ac­tiv­ity level. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, et al., 2009; No­varo, 1997; Sal­va­tori, et al., 1999)

  • Range territory size
    3.7 to 800 km^2

Home Range

Culpeos oc­cupy home ranges with lit­tle or no over­lap. Home range size is ex­tremely vari­able. Chilean culpeos in a semi-arid re­gion had an av­er­age home range size of 3.7 km2, while desert dwelling culpeos in high­land salt flats and lakes had home ranges of up to 800 km2. In north cen­tral Chile, the home range of fe­male culpeos av­er­aged 8.9 km2, 2.5 times the size of the av­er­age male home range. In south­ern Chile, the av­er­age an­nual home range was 9.8 km2, with no sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence be­tween sexes. Home range size ap­pears to de­pend on habi­tat and prey avail­abil­ity. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, 1997; Sal­va­tori, et al., 1999)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Lycalopex cul­paeus com­mu­ni­ca­tion in the wild has not been de­scribed. In cap­tiv­ity, culpeos make a mixed growl and scream noise. Like other canids, they are likely to use a broad suite of phys­i­cal cues, scents, pos­tures, and sounds to com­mu­ni­cate. (No­varo, 1997)

Food Habits

Culpeos are om­ni­vores and di­etary gen­er­al­ists. Prey range from wild un­gu­lates, hares, sheep, and small mam­mals to in­sects, birds, and lizards. Culpeos also eat car­rion and fruit. Spe­cific ex­am­ples of items in a culpeo’s diet are Octodon degus, Oryc­to­la­gus cu­nicu­lus, and car­rion of lla­mas and vicug­nas. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, 1997; Walker, et al., 2007)

  • Animal Foods
  • birds
  • mammals
  • reptiles
  • carrion
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • Plant Foods
  • fruit

Pre­da­tion

Culpeos do not have any com­plex anti-preda­tor adap­ta­tions, be­cause they have few nat­ural en­e­mies. Pumas (Puma con­color) may prey on them oc­ca­sion­ally, but this is not an im­por­tant cause of mor­tal­ity. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004)

  • Anti-predator Adaptations
  • cryptic

Ecosys­tem Roles

Culpeos serve im­por­tant eco­log­i­cal roles. As preda­tors on many dif­fer­ent species, culpeos play a role in pop­u­la­tion con­trol, and as prey and host, they pro­vide en­ergy to higher trophic lev­els. Also, culpeos eat fruit and are im­por­tant in seed dis­per­sal. The seeds of peumo (Cryp­to­carya alba) and Pe­ru­vian pep­per (Schi­nus molle) have been recorded to ger­mi­nate at higher rates if defe­cated by culpeos. Ad­di­tion­ally, culpeos as­sist in biodegra­da­tion, by eat­ing the car­rion of other species. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004; No­varo, 1997; Walker, et al., 2007)

Com­men­sal/Par­a­sitic Species

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Culpeos have long been hunted and trapped for their fur, pro­vid­ing an im­por­tant source of in­come to in­hab­i­tants of Chile and Ar­gentina. Also, culpeos eat car­rion, which pro­vides an im­por­tant ser­vice to the ecosys­tem that could be seen as a ben­e­fit to hu­mans. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004)

  • Positive Impacts
  • body parts are source of valuable material

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Culpeos oc­ca­sion­ally feed on live­stock, such as sheep and chick­ens, and are said to be a major cause of sheep pre­da­tion in Patag­o­nia. (Tra­vaini, et al., 2001)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Lycalopex cul­paeus ap­pears to be able to with­stand human hunt­ing pres­sure and is main­tain­ing a sta­ble pop­u­la­tion. (No­varo, et al., 2009)

Other Com­ments

Lycalopex cul­paeus were pre­vi­ously known as Pseudalopex cul­paeus. (Jimenez and No­varo, 2004)

Con­trib­u­tors

Lisa Pe­ter­son (au­thor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity, Bar­bara Lun­dri­gan (ed­i­tor), Michi­gan State Uni­ver­sity, Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

biodegradation

helps break down and decompose dead plants and/or animals

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

carrion

flesh of dead animals.

chaparral

Found in coastal areas between 30 and 40 degrees latitude, in areas with a Mediterranean climate. Vegetation is dominated by stands of dense, spiny shrubs with tough (hard or waxy) evergreen leaves. May be maintained by periodic fire. In South America it includes the scrub ecotone between forest and paramo.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

cryptic

having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

male parental care

parental care is carried out by males

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

mountains

This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nocturnal

active during the night

omnivore

an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals

rainforest

rainforests, both temperate and tropical, are dominated by trees often forming a closed canopy with little light reaching the ground. Epiphytes and climbing plants are also abundant. Precipitation is typically not limiting, but may be somewhat seasonal.

scent marks

communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them

scrub forest

scrub forests develop in areas that experience dry seasons.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

tropical

the region of the earth that surrounds the equator, from 23.5 degrees north to 23.5 degrees south.

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

Ref­er­ences

Jimenez, J. 2006. Ecol­ogy of a coastal pop­u­la­tion of the crit­i­cally en­dan­gered Dar­win's fox (Pseudalopex ful­vipes) on Chiloé Is­land, south­ern Chile. Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, 271: 63-77.

Jimenez, J., A. No­varo. 2004. Culpeo. Pp. 44-49 in C Sillero-Zu­biri, M Hoff­mann, D Mac­don­ald, eds. Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jack­als, and Dogs. Sta­tus Sur­vey and Con­ser­va­tion Ac­tion Plan. Gland, Switzer­land and Cam­bridge, UK: World Con­ser­va­tion Union.

No­varo, A. 1997. Pseudalopex cul­paeus. Mam­malian Species, 558: 1-8.

No­varo, A., C. Mor­aga, C. Briceno, M. Funes, A. Marino. 2009. First records of culpeo (Lycalopex cul­paeus) at­tacks and co­op­er­a­tive de­fense by gua­na­cos (Lama guani­coe). Mam­malia, 73: 148-150.

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mam­mals of the World, Sixth Edi­tion. Bal­ti­more and Lon­don: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Sal­va­tori, V., G. Vaglio-Lau­rin, P. Meserve, L. Boi­tani, A. Cam­panella. 1999. Spa­tial or­ga­ni­za­tion, ac­tiv­ity, and so­cial in­ter­ac­tions of culpeo foxes (Pseudalopex cul­paeus) in north-cen­tral Chile. Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, 80: 980-985.

Tra­vaini, A., R. Peck, S. Za­p­ata. 2001. Se­lec­tion of odor at­trac­tants and meat de­liv­ery meth­ods to con­trol Culpeo foxes (Pseudalopex cul­paeus) in Patag­o­nia. Wildlife So­ci­ety Bul­letin, 29: 1089-1096.

Walker, R., A. No­varo, P. Per­ovic, R. Pala­cios, E. Dona­dio, M. Lucherini, M. Pia, M. Lopez. 2007. Diets of three species of An­dean car­ni­vores in high-al­ti­tude deserts of Ar­gentina. Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, 88: 519-525.

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