#0481 · 🦊 mammals

Bat-eared Fox

🇳🇱 Grootoorvos ·Otocyon megalotis

LCleast concern 🦊 Mammals 📍 outside Europe

10 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © markus lilje · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
2. © David Bygott · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
3. © Nik Borrow · CC BY-NC 4.0
4. © Daniele Colombo · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
5. © Paul Pratt · CC BY-NC 4.0
6. © mikeloomis · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Michał Włodarczyk · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
8. © Gregory Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0
9. © mikeloomis · CC BY-NC 4.0
10. © mikeloomis · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The bat-eared fox ( Otocyon megalotis ) is a species of fox found on the African savanna, named for its large ears, which are used for thermoregulation. Fossil records show this canid first appeared during the middle Pleistocene, about 800,000 years ago. It is considered a basal canid species, resembling ancestral forms of the family.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 1,955iNaturalist observations
weight 4.2 kgadult, up to
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
1,955 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Weighs up to about 4.2 kg.
Scientifically named by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1822 (204 years ago).