/ Alopex lagopus
Several hundred thousand,
wide fluctuations as a result of varying prey
numbers. Conservation status - Least Concern.
around the Arctic including many islands, native
to the far north usually found in treeless tundra.
Size: 3 to 8kg (6.5-17
lbs), 75 to 110 cm long (2.3-3.5 feet) including
a tail of around 30cm (12 inches), 20 to 30cm
(9-12 inches) tall at the shoulder, females
slightly smaller than males.
What are Arctic
Foxes like? How are they adapted to
Arctic Fox is an animal of the far north.
It lives its whole life above the northern tree
line in the Arctic tundra, it has found its
way to most Arctic islands and is the only mammal
native to Iceland. It may be found on the sea-ice
in winter as it extends its foraging range.
The southern limit of the arctic fox is partially
dictated by the presence of red foxes which
out-compete arctic foxes in areas where tundra
turns to shrubs and trees.
They survive in some of the coldest places
on earth which is no mean feat for such a relatively
small animal, they have a number of anatomical,
behavioural and physiological adaptations that
allow them to do this successfully.
- Relatively low
surface area to volume ratio (anatomical)
- Compared to other species of fox, arctic
foxes have proportionally shorter legs,
shorter necks and smaller ears. This means
that there is less surface area to lose
heat from compared to more slender southern
- Thick camouflaged
seasonal fur (anatomical) - The coat
of the arctic fox is always thick and highly
insulating. They grow two rather distinct
versions over the course of a year however.
The summer coat is thinner and dark grey
to a brown, the colour allowing it to be
camouflaged against the darker background
of rock and vegetation when the ice and
snow of winter have melted. The luxurious
winter coat is very thick making the fox
look more rounded and is white so camouflaging
it against a frozen background.
fur on the tail
- The tail acts to provide extra insulation
when it is needed. When the fox is active
and generating heat it is out of the way,
while when the fox curls up to sleep or
to keep warm in extreme cold, the tail fur
can brought into play for extra wrap around
- Thick fur on the
paws (anatomical) - to insulate them
from snow and ice and also provide for grip
on slippery surfaces.
- Thick layer of
body fat (anatomical / physiological)
- for insulation and food storage to help
survive the winter when food supply may
heat exchanger in the paws (anatomical/physiological)
- Along with many other animals including
domestic dogs, there is a mechanism in the
paws of arctic foxes that keeps them at
a lower temperature than the body core so
minimizing heat loss via this extremity
that is in contact with the ground. Blood
entering the paws is used to heat up blood
that is leaving, this prevents the core
from being cooled by heat loss at the extremities.
Similar mechanisms are also found in the
feet of birds such as ducks and penguins.
in burrows they dig into the snow during
blizzards and very cold weather (behavioral)
- A relatively quick and easy way of avoiding
the worst of the weather by tunneling beneath
the snow to avoid the biting wind and gain
extra insulation from the snow. While the
temperature in the snow hole is still below
freezing, it can be much higher than outside
the snow hole.
- Large litter sizes
in years with high prey populations
(physiological) - The population size of
arctic foxes is tied very closely to the
population size of its prey which consists
largely of lemmings. Lemmings can breed
very quickly in good conditions though are
short-lived, the ability of the arctic fox
to keep up with their reproductive rate
to some degree gives them the ability to
take advantage of productive years before
it is too late. Typically an arctic fox
will have between 5 and 9 pups, but have
been recorded as high as 25, the most for
- Very keen sense
of hearing (anatomical/physiological)
- Though small, the ears of arctic foxes
are pointed forwards and so are very directional.
They can hear their main prey, lemmings,
moving through tunnels they make in the
snow allowing the fox to pounce on the area
where the sound is coming from without needing
to see the prey and with the prey unaware
that the fox is about to pounce.
What do Arctic
Foxes eat? How do they live?
Distribution range of the
- Arctic foxes will
eat a wide range of foods, while
their main prey is lemmings, they will hunt
and catch other small animals and will also
scavenge food from beneath sea-bird colonies
on cliffs and left overs from predators
such as polar bears. They will take bird
eggs where possible from tundra nesting
birds, though are not entirely carnivorous
eating berries and seaweed when available.
A family of foxes can get through several
dozen lemmings in a day. They will eat young
ringed seals when they are vulnerable in
the snow den shortly after they are born
in the same manner that they attack lemmings
beneath the snow, detecting them by sound
and then jumping on and punching through
the covering snow layer.
In their turn arctic foxes may fall prey
to polar bears, wolverines, red foxes and
golden eagles. They have been and continue
to be trapped for their thick winter coats
- Arctic foxes form
monogamous pairs through a breeding season
though often several females will live together
in a large and complex den that can be many
years old, even centuries. Sometimes young
non-breeding foxes will live in the den
also and help to raise the pups from the
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license
- curled sleeping - Rama
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license
- white winter coat - Algkalv, summer coat on
rocks - Michael Haferkamp,