Family Felidae only has one representative in the Sahara — the sand cat — but Family Canidae has two:
On quick glance, it’s difficult to tell these sand foxes apart.
And a quick glance is all you’ll get, if that
Fortunately, we’ve met them both before and know that Ruppell’s fox is the larger of the two, and while it does have oversized ears, doesn’t go to extremes.
This video is from Qatar, on the Arabian Peninsula, where Ruppell’s fox is known as a sand fox:
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The fennec fox is extreme in a couple of ways, being the smallest fox species and having the largest ears, relative to body size, of any canid.
Large ears also pick up sounds that don’t carry very far in the dry desert air.
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A little lagniappe:
Curious whether other foxes can handle desert condions?
Yes, others do quite well out there!
Featured image: A. Shazly, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Flight To Wonder 