Hill fox

The hill fox^[2] (Vulpes vulpes montana),^[3] also known as the hill red fox,^[2] or the Himalayan red fox,^[4] is a subspecies of the red fox that is native to parts of the Himalayan Mountain Range and the Karakoram Mountain Range. It has two noticeable populations: one in northeastern India, far southern Nepal, and far northern Bangladesh. The other is in portions of far northwestern India, and northeastern Pakistan. Populations may be present in far southwestern China, and in other areas of the Himalayas.^[5] Its natural range is made up of rocky terrain, low grasslands, and tundra within a temperate climate.^[6]

The hill fox is differentiated from the nominate subspecies by having a smaller body, smaller skull, and teeth, and by having rough or coarse hair. Its foot hair is mixed with softer, woolly hair.^[7] It is occasionally known to build dens near urbanized human areas.^[8] Additionally, researchers found these foxes in the Shigar valley, Karakorum Range, Pakistan and studied their living habits and their den locations. Their studies showed that in their resting state 83.33% of the foxes had a den in a grass/bare habitat.” ^[8]

Many Vulpes Vulpes Montanas are high altitude animals and have many adaptive mechanisms due to their environment. Studies have shown that “many high-altitude animals reduce O₂ demand by suppressing total metabolism to compensate for a reduced cellular O₂ supply as a response to hypoxia.” ^[9]

There are many studies that take into account their genetic information to understand their evolution and adaptation in high-altitude habitats. One study used “blood samples obtained from a wild female red fox captured from Lhasa in Tibet, China. The Qinghai--Tibet Plateau is the highest plateau in the world with an average elevation above 3500 m.” ^[10] In this study they analyzed the sequences of their genes and found a gene that corresponds to their ability to adapt to their environments.