What is the maximal age a Swift fox reaches?
An adult Swift fox (Vulpes velox) usually gets as old as 20 years.
Swift foxs are around 53 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 40 grams (0.09 lbs) and measure 8.3 cm (0′ 4″). As a member of the Canidae family (genus: Vulpes), their offspring is 4 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 50.5 cm (1′ 8″).
As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.
The swift fox (Vulpes velox) is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America, such as Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It also lives in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, where it was previously extirpated. It is closely related to the kit fox and the two species are sometimes known as subspecies of Vulpes velox because hybrids of the two species occur naturally where their ranges overlap.The swift fox lives primarily in short-grass prairies and deserts. It became nearly extinct in the 1930s as a result of predator control programs, but was successfully reintroduced later. Currently, the conservation status of the species is considered by the IUCN as Least Concern owing to stable populations elsewhere.Like most canids, the swift fox is an omnivore, and its diet includes grasses and fruits as well as small mammals, carrion, and insects. In the wild, its lifespan is three to six years, and it breeds once annually, from late December to March, depending on the geographic region. Pups are born anywhere from March to mid-May, and are weaned at six to seven weeks old.The swift fox is closely related genetically to the kit fox (Vulpes macrotis), but occupies a different geographical range. The two have historically been regarded as different species for reasons basically related to size: the kit fox is slightly smaller than the swift fox, and the former has a narrower snout. However, hybrids between the two occur naturally where their ranges overlap, and some mammalogists classify the two as subspecies of a single species, usually treated as Vulpes velox (with the swift fox being described as V. velox velox and the kit fox as V. velox macrotis). The molecular genetics evidence is not conclusive, however, and some of those who have used it continue to treat the swift fox and kit fox as separate species.
Animals of the same family as a Swift fox
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Canidae):
- Pampas fox becoming 13.67 years old
- Blanford’s fox becoming 10 years old
- Rüppell’s fox with 2 babies per pregnancy
- South American gray fox growing to a mass of 6.34 kgs (13.98 lbs)
- Cape fox becoming 10 years old
- Ethiopian wolf growing to a mass of 14.38 kgs (31.7 lbs)
- Culpeo with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Island fox becoming 8 years old
- Short-eared dog becoming 11 years old
- Hoary fox with 3 babies per pregnancy
Animals that reach the same age as Swift fox
With an average age of 20 years, Swift fox are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Anoa usually reaching 22.5 years
- Common tsessebe usually reaching 18 years
- Mohol bushbaby usually reaching 16.5 years
- Tana River mangabey usually reaching 21 years
- Senegal bushbaby usually reaching 17 years
- Large Indian civet usually reaching 20 years
- Kit fox usually reaching 20 years
- North American porcupine usually reaching 18 years
- Risso’s dolphin usually reaching 20 years
- Red river hog usually reaching 20 years
Animals with the same number of babies Swift fox
The same number of babies at once (4) are born by:
- Akodon azarae
- Townsend’s chipmunk
- Sand cat
- Hoary marmot
- European mink
- Oligoryzomys longicaudatus
- Kit fox
- Culpeo
- Lataste’s gerbil
- Ningbing false antechinus
Weighting as much as Swift fox
A fully grown Swift fox reaches around 2.11 kg (4.66 lbs). So do these animals:
- Johnston’s genet weighting 2.23 kilos (4.92 lbs) on average
- Hamlyn’s monkey weighting 2.31 kilos (5.09 lbs) on average
- Banded hare-wallaby weighting 1.94 kilos (4.28 lbs) on average
- Stein’s cuscus weighting 1.85 kilos (4.08 lbs) on average
- Bengal fox weighting 2.51 kilos (5.53 lbs) on average
- Manchurian hare weighting 1.84 kilos (4.06 lbs) on average
- Hispid hare weighting 2.5 kilos (5.51 lbs) on average
- Rusty-spotted genet weighting 1.95 kilos (4.3 lbs) on average
- Angolan genet weighting 1.86 kilos (4.1 lbs) on average
- Riverine rabbit weighting 1.75 kilos (3.86 lbs) on average
Animals as big as a Swift fox
Those animals grow as big as a Swift fox:
- Sechuran fox with 56.2 cm (1′ 11″)
- Western red colobus with 57.4 cm (1′ 11″)
- Beech marten with 46 cm (1′ 7″)
- Stripe-necked mongoose with 47.8 cm (1′ 7″)
- Alexander’s kusimanse with 45 cm (1′ 6″)
- Ring-tailed lemur with 42.5 cm (1′ 5″)
- Black bearded saki with 41.6 cm (1′ 5″)
- Hispid hare with 46 cm (1′ 7″)
- Red panda with 58.3 cm (1′ 11″)
- Yellow-spotted rock hyrax with 46.9 cm (1′ 7″)