Dogs come in all sizes, from one of the big shepherd breeds to chihuahuas, but their common ancestor, the gray wolf, is fairly hefty.

Out in the wild, canids AND felids come in all sizes, too.

Three different species of cat, on three separate continents — the rusty-spotted cat (Asia), black-footed cats (Africa), and guinas, a/k/a kodkods (South America) — compete for the title of world’s smallest cat.

But Family Canidae has come up with just one small wild “dog” — and it’s so cute!

But a challenging and possibly illegal pet.

• Canid Specialist Group page.
• iNaturalist page.
• Barkley and the late Daisy at the Smithsonian Zoo. (The zookeepers loved Daisy).

Watch out, though, little Fennec. The desert has a feline king!

I could find no videos of these two interacting — you have to wonder if they do! Anyway, here is Sandy’s Cat Specialist Group page.

Featured image: Szymon Barylski/Shutterstock