The rare Fuegian fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) from the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago: history of discovery, geographic distribution, and socio-ecological aspects

IF 1.3 4区环境科学与生态学 Q3 BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Revista Chilena de Historia Natural Pub Date : 2024-01-17 DOI:10.1186/s40693-024-00124-w

Fabian M. Jaksic, Carlos Zurita, Cristóbal Briceño, Jaime E. Jiménez

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Abstract

The Fuegian fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) is a rare inhabitant of the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago on account of: (a) It is the southernmost Canid in the world. (b) It is the second largest, heaviest, and tallest native Canid in South America. (c) It is currently scarce in northern Tierra del Fuego. (d) It may have been tamed by the Selk’nam natives. Based on chronicles and scientific reports we document the timeline since discovery of the distinctive and island-confined Fuegian fox. We pay attention to its patchwork distribution within the Fuegian archipelago, with populations spread on the large Tierra del Fuego Island (Fuegia) and on two smaller ones, Hoste and Gable. This fox seems to have disappeared recently from the latter and historic records from Navarino Island are dubious. We provide new distributional records and unpublished photographs. Among the socio-ecological aspects studied, we highlight the relationships of this fox with two local indigenous people: The Yahgan and the Selk´nam. The introduction of sheep Ovis aries in 1885 and the ensuing persecution of its putative predators apparently caused the fox decline from the northern half of Fuegia. The introduction of the continental Chilla fox Lycalopex griseus in 1951 further impacted the Fuegian fox, apparently by competition for food but perhaps also by diseases. It is currently concentrated in the southern half of Tierra del Fuego Island. The possibility that the Selk’nam introduced this fox from the mainland and that they tamed it, is also discussed.

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火地岛群岛的珍稀狐狸（Lycalopex culpaeus）：发现史、地理分布和社会生态学方面的问题

火地岛狐狸（Lycalopex culpaeus）是火地岛群岛的稀有居民，原因是(a) 它是世界上最南端的犬科动物。(b) 它是南美洲第二大、最重和最高的原生犬科动物。(c) 目前在火地岛北部很少见。(d) 它可能已被塞尔克纳姆人驯服。在编年史和科学报告的基础上，我们记录了自发现这种独特的、局限于岛屿的火地岛狐狸以来的发展历程。我们注意到它在火地岛群岛内的零星分布，种群分布在大火地岛（Fuegia）和两个较小的火地岛（Hoste 和 Gable）上。这种狐狸最近似乎已从霍斯特岛消失，而纳瓦里诺岛的历史记录也很可疑。我们提供了新的分布记录和未发表的照片。在研究的社会生态方面，我们强调了这种狐狸与两个当地土著人的关系：Yahgan人和Selk´nam人。1885 年引进绵羊 Ovis aries 以及随之而来的对其天敌的迫害显然导致狐狸在 Fuegia 北半部减少。1951 年引进的大陆奇拉狐 Lycalopex griseus 进一步影响了富吉尼亚狐狸，这显然是由于对食物的竞争，但也可能是由于疾病。目前，这种狐狸主要集中在火地岛的南半部。此外，还讨论了塞尔克纳姆人从大陆引进这种狐狸并对其进行驯化的可能性。

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来源期刊

Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 环境科学-生态学

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

18.20%

发文量

审稿时长

>36 weeks

期刊介绍： Revista Chilena de Historia Natural (RCHN) publishes original research dealing with past and present phenomena from organismic to higher levels of biological organization, considering both empirical and theoretical studies on all kinds of taxa and environments. The major areas covered by RCHN are: botany and zoology; physiological and behavioral ecology; population biology; community and ecosystem ecology; systematics, biogeography and evolution.