The Maned Wolf

[sl8]

From Maned wolf | Smithsonian's National Zoo

                                                                            Maned wolf

The largest canid in South America, the maned wolf looks like a fox, is called a wolf, and is closely related to neither. Maned wolves eat primarily small animals, fruits and vegetables.

Physical Description
Having evolved to live in high grass savannas, maned wolves have a thick red coat, long black legs and tall, erect ears. The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America. It looks more like a long-legged fox than a wolf. Genetic studies show that it is neither fox nor true wolf, but a distinct species. It is the only member of its genus, Chrysocyon.

Size
The maned wolf stands about 3 feet (90 centimeters) tall at the shoulder and weighs about 50 pounds (23 kilograms).

Native Habitat
Maned wolves range through central and eastern South America including northern Argentina, South and Central Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Peru. They inhabit the cerrado, the largest biome of South America, which is comprised of wet and dry forests, grasslands, savannas, marshes and wetlands.

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More at link.

[MFM008]

1. Looks like it's on stilts

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[eppur_se_muova]

2. It's also known as the "stilted wolf" ... the first name by which I heard of it.

I thought I had read that Darwin had observed it, and was intrigued by it. Can't find a reference for that -- closest is the extinct Falklands "Wolf", a close relative.

Google redirects stilted wolf, stilted fox, and pampas wolf all to maned wolf.

[sl8]

4. Interesting.

The only thing I turned up when I included "Darwin" as one of the terms, was on "Darwin's fox".

Wkipedia:

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Pseudalopex is a South American genus of canine distantly related to wolves and is technically not a fox. When Charles Darwin collected a specimen from San Pedro Island in Chiloé Archipelago in December 1834 during the Beagle survey expedition, he observed that this "fox (of Chiloe, a rare animal) sat on the point & was so absorbed in watching [survey work], that he allowed me to walk behind him & actually kill him with my geological hammer".[6] In the 1839 publication of his Journal and Remarks, Darwin said "This fox, more curious or more scientific, but less wise, than the generality of his brethren, is now mounted in the museum of the Zoological Society." He said it was "an undescribed species",[7] indicating that it was distinct from the species (L. culpaeus and L. griseus) that occur on the mainland. Later, Darwin's fox was classified as a subspecies (Lycalopex griseus fulvipes) of the latter.
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[AJT]

3. Fascinating.