r/BeAmazed • u/L0kivich • 17h ago

Animal Japanese raccoon dogs called Tanuki.

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u/Efficient_Raise7695 17h ago

Aren't these foxes?

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u/ctothel 13h ago edited 13h ago

No, but kind of. "Fox" is a word that's applied to a lot of species that look like foxes, but there's also such a thing as a "true fox".

The Canid family has four tribes / sub-tribes:

  1. Wolves and wolf-like canines: grey wolves, dogs, etc.
  2. South American canines: including the bush dog and maned wolf
  3. Fox-like canines: true foxes, raccoon dogs
  4. Grey foxes

Under the fox-like canines tribe, there is the genus Nyctereutes which includes the raccoon dogs, and the genus Vulpes - the true foxes.

The distinction between a dog and a raccoon dog (tribe level) is basically like humans and gorillas. The distinction between a true fox and a raccoon dog (genus level) is like humans and chimps.

Here's a nice family tree. You'll find the fox-likes in red at the top. Raccoon dogs split from foxes about 8-10 million years ago.

Notice how many "dogs" aren't dogs, and how many "foxes" aren't foxes!