Arctic Fox Research Paper

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The Arctic fox is related to wolves, dogs, and other foxes because they are from the Canidae family. The Arctic fox was thought to have evolved in Europe as the ice sheet expanded when a glacial period swept the Earth about 2.6 million years ago. The life of the Arctic fox is relatively little in the wild ranging from approximately 3 to 6 years. Weighing only 6 to 17 pounds, it exists in the treeless lands and can withstand temperatures up to -58 grades Fahrenheit. Some basic adaptations for life in the Arctic include small, but very furry ears and small snout prevent heat loss, as well as the soles of their feet. The far most interesting one is the increased blood flow to the foot pads to prevent freezing. The Arctic fox is known for its elongated…show more content…
Female pre-birth investment is changed according to the litter size. A comparison between fluctuating resources and stable Arctic fox populations, showed that resources, fluctuations are linked with larger litter sizes. This is an evolutionary tactic that not just the Arctic fox has broken, but the Canidae family in general has tapped into. In the most stable of environments litter sizes can be looked to approach an optimum of pups in the bedding material. Many traits experience changing selection pressures in times that are short for adoption to take place within that phase. This likewise signifies that changes in food and resources are always changing dramatically in relatively short time frames. This gives very little time for evolutionary adaptions to take place, even though some evolutionary adaptions can happen in generation to generation in a species of an organism. This also moves along with social organization and parental behavior in the Arctic Fox. Many larger species of Candids tend to have larger litters and relatively better maternal investment in each reproductive event the fox gives birth. As a result, it has been proposed that bigger species should be more social because of assistance from the non-reproductive group members. This would be Important to provide for the larger…show more content…
Most of the metric dental characteristics and CBL (Condylobasal Skull Length) in the species of Arctic fox. This indicated that the Arctic foxes of Eurasia were larger than the Arctic foxes of North America. The survey also conducted that the largest specimens of the Arctic foxes were those of Komandorskiye Ostrava, while the littlest ones were on Baffin Island and Greenland. In the Arctic, within the geographical reach of the fox, neither size nor sexual dimorphism of the metric dental and skull features, showed any geographical trend. It was indicated that the Arctic foxes morphological variation within its scope is mainly determined by climate conditions, food resources, and competition between its own species as easily as bigger and smaller species of different varieties.

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