Dog-fox Hybrids

Mammalian Hybrids

(This article is part of the support material for the alternative theory of evolution offered on this website.)

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A supposed dox on display at the Grosvenor Museum (Chester, UK). The caption for this picture on the museum’s website reads, “This tatty looking specimen is possibly the only known dog-fox hybrid in the world. It is said that a male fox mated with a female dog on a canal boat near Beeston. It sat for many years on the staircase at Eaton Hall, before it was auctioned and donated to the Museum.” Access the Grovenor Museum's page about this hybrid.

One of the many dog-fox hybrids reported in the older literature (Walsh 1859, p. 165)

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) Image: Minette Layne

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Although throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere extensive natural contact does occur between fox and dog, nearly all reports of dog-fox hybrids refer to crosses in captivity involving a male fox and a bitch (one seemingly reliable French report does describe two such hybrids shot by hunters). The short name for a dog-fox hybrid is a “dox.”

There is controversy over whether dog-fox hybrids are actually possible, and this cross is not very well documented. In particular, there seem to be no genetically verified dog-fox hybrids on record. Moreover, since dogs are so variable, naysayers can always claim that any putative hybrid falls within the range of variation of ordinary dogs.

The chromosome count of a red fox is 2n=34 (plus 3-5 micro-chromosomes) and that of a dog, 2n=78. So the difference in counts is large, with dogs having more than twice as many. This fact is often cited as somehow making such hybrids "impossible." But well-documented hybrids have been produced in many other crosses where the parents exhibit large differences in chromosome counts (for example, see the various equine crosses with large differences in parental chromosome counts documented here). In general, differences in the chromosome counts of the parents participating in a cross adversely affect the fertility of the hybrids, not their viability.

Chester. And, in fact, one fairly well-documented dox (see image at right above) is a stuffed animal in the collection of the Grosvenor Museum, (Chester, UK). It is as yet unclear, however, whether this specimen has been genetically verified as a genuine dog-fox hybrid. So the evidence in this case is perhaps not quite so good as in the next, which involves hybrids produced in captivity at a reputable institution.

Hannover. Wilhelm Niemeyer, Director of the Hannover Zoological Gardens, gives what appears to be an authentic account of the birth a litter of dog-fox hybrids (since it took place under strictly controlled conditions). In the 19th century, when Niemeyer reported this cross, it was normal practice at zoos to produce hybrids intentionally. For this reason, keepers at the Hannover Zoo arranged a mating between a dog and a captive fox. Niemeyer (1868, p. 69) says that “the fox, which was otherwise very tame, became fierce when the bitch, which was in heat,

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Beyond the fact that this case occurred in captivity and was reported by the head official of an important zoo, Niemeyer’s account seems authentic because the hybrids described were inviable. In many types of crosses, a relatively small percentage of the hybrid offspring are sufficiently viable to reach adulthood. And yet, this elevated level of inviability seen in hybrid crosses should not obscure that fact that even in crosses where nearly all the hybrids die young, a certain fraction do survive.

Horncastle. Another seemingly credible account, entitled Fox and Dog Hybrids near Horncastle, is given by the Rev. J. Conway Walter in the April, 1899 issue of The Naturalist: A Monthly Journal of Natural History for North England (p. 104), which reads as follows: “I exhibited, when the Lincolnshire Naturalists’ Union met in Holbeck and Tetford, in August 1897,

James Conway Walter
1831-1913

a case containing two stuffed specimens of a cross between a fox and dog, bred by Mr. Stafford Walker, of Horncastle, the sire being a male Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and the mother a half-bred bitch between Shepherd Dog and Whippet; of a litter of six only one survived. The mother was bought by the French savant, M. M. Suchetet [in that day, one of the world’s foremost authorities on hybrids], with a view to further experiments. Since then, several similar hybrids have been produced in this neighbourhood. In one case, at Ashby Puerorum, a farm bailiff, named Cross, tied his Shepherd bitch near a fox-earth; and the one pup reared is now in the possession of Mr. Frank Dynioke, of Scrivelsby Park. In another case, a gamekeeper near Louth tied a bitch in a wood, in the rutting season, to give warning of trespassers, and subsequently the bitch had pups, evidently a cross with Fox. One of these is now in the possession of Mr. Waltham, dealer in china, High Street, Horncastle. Another is in the possession of Mr. E. Walter, farmer, of Hatton, a cousin of Mr. Stafford Walter, who bred the original hybrids, which I exhibited in 1897.

Domestic Dog (Spitz)

Hellabrunn Zoo. Heinrich Heck (1932), the director of the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany, describes a dog-fox hybrid produced from a cross between a female spitz and a male fox as reddish in color, but not so red as a fox (Darwin, 1868, vol 1, p. 31, states that “the Spitz-dog in Germany is said to receive the fox more readily than do other breeds.”). It had the gracile build of a fox, a similar gait, and the same restlessness. The long, fine hair of the shaggy coat showed the mother’s influence.

Worcester. Another article about a dog-fox hybrid was written by British zoologist Reginald Innes Pocock (1900):

Reginald Innes Pocock
1863-1947

Hybrid Dog and Fox.—In the new Museum at Worcester, standing upon a shelf in the recess set apart for local mammals, there is a stuffed animal, labelled Wolf, which I suspect is a hybrid between a Dog and a Fox. Pasted up alongside is an old, and I think, dateless newspaper cutting, containing a sensational account of the behaviour of the 'monster’ during the time just preceding its destruction. The paragraph was too long to copy in full during the time at my disposal, but to the best of my recollection the pith of it is as follows: The animal entered a cottage in a village in Worcestershire, and quietly laid down under a table. Roused from its rest by the crying of a child, it was making for the sound with the purpose of devouring its originator, when a Cat, with less discretion than is usually displayed by this feline, flew at the intruder, but in the tussle that ensued was torn limb from limb and afterwards devoured piecemeal on the spot. The subsequent proceedings I forget, but the 'Wolf’ apparently continued to hang about the cottage, till some passing labourers, apprised of its doings and probable intentions, attacked and killed it. The alleged ferocity and unmistakable, albeit superficial, Wolf-like aspect of the animal, coupled may be with the circumstance that it was not recognized as the property of any of the farmers or Dog-owners of the neighbourhood, seem to have been the considerations which led the good people into whose hands the beast fell to settle offhand that it must be a 'Wolf escaped from a menagerie’ … Judging from the size of the teeth, the creature was adult. It is rather larger than a Fox, and has a bushy tail and erect ears. The legs and the head, so far as could be seen, except for a blackish patch in front of the ear, are a rich fawn-colour; the back is black, mottled with dark grey, the tail being much the same shade on the back, and without a white. Apart from its slightly superior size, it differs strikingly from a Fox in having the ears and feet fawn instead of blackish, and in the absence of white from the lips and throat. Of wild Dogs, it is perhaps the Black-backed Jackal that it most calls to mind, although much stouter in build and smaller in the ears than that elegant species. It also resembles a small cock-eared colley, and might pass muster as such amongst a crowd of mongrels. A suspiciously 'foxy’ look about the beast, however, inclines me to the belief that it is the progeny of a Fox, and probably some country Sheep-dog.

From the various foregoing accounts, it seems clear that foxes can interbreed with dogs and that a percentage of the resulting hybrids reach maturity. However, there is the additional question of whether those mature hybrids are ever fertile.

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News notice about a dog-fox hybrid shot near Mount Pleasant, Michigan (Source: The Clare, Michigan, Sentinel (June 24, 1927, p. 1)

Accounts of fertile dog-fox hybrids

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John Henry Walsh F.R.C.S. (1810-1888) was an English surgeon and sports writer who wrote under the pseudonym "Stonehenge." In his book, The Dog in Health and Disease (Walsh 1859, p. 165), he comments that “it will be perhaps interesting to allude to the best authenticated specimen [of dog-fox hybrid] within my knowledge, which is now the property of Mr. Hewer of Reading. [This animal is pictured near the top of this webpage.] She is a daughter of the first cross which was described by Mr. Tomlin in ‘Bell’s Life’ in the year 1855, and is by an ordinary terrier dog.” He then goes on to quote Tomlin at length:

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Heck (1932) also says that a male dog-fox hybrid produced offspring with a female grey wolf (Canis lupus). Prichard (1836, p. 141) says, “Pallas (N. Nord. Beyträge) gives from Pennant two instances of generation between the dog and wolf and one between the dog and the fox, in which last the offspring, a female, afterwards produced young by a dog.”

Herbert (1837, pp. 339-340), too, gives an eye-witness account of a fertile hybrid. He states that “I have lately had under my observation a dog, whose father was a fox in an innyard at Ripon, and it has singularly the manners as well as the voice of a fox, but it is the parent of many families of puppies.”

A screenshot from one of the many cabbit videos available on the internet. Note the plantigrade condition of the hind feet, which is normal for rabbits, but not cats. (Watch the video)

Eiffe (1892) provides yet another account, entitled Fox Hybrid:

So it would seem that the accurate statement is that, while dog-fox hybrids are much more rarely produced than pure foxes or dogs, frequently inviable and usually sterile, some are in fact produced, some are viable, and some are even able to produce offspring.

Dog-fox hybrids in antiquity

Related article:

Bear-dog hybrids

Dog-fox hybrids have been a topic since ancient times. They are mentioned by Aristotle (De Generatione Animalium, Bk. II, Ch. 4) and by Galen (De Semine, Bk. II, Ch. 1), among others. According to Platt (p. 241), Aristotle believed the “Laconian hound,” an ancient breed of dog, to be derived from hybridization between fox and dog. And Xenophon (On Hunting, iii) says,

And even pre-classical cultures were aware that dogs and foxes sometimes mate, as evidenced, for example, by Akkadian omen texts: “If a fox mates with a dog, the land will be destroyed” (Freedman 2017, p. 63) or “If a fox mates with a dog, prices will decline for three years” (ibid, p. 59). The Akkadian language was spoken in Mesopotamia as early as 3,000 B.C.

Picture of an alleged dog-fox hybrid recently sent in by a follower. Supposedly the cross involved a border collie and a silver fox. Note white tip of tail. The hybrid status of this animal has not been genetically confirmed.

Another view of the animal pictured above.

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Literature: Allgemeine Forst- und Jagd-zeitung, 1839 (no. 61, May 20, p. 244); Bechstein 1801; Cole and Shackelford 1946 (pp. 326-327); Darwin 1868 (p. 31); Eiffe 1892; Heck 1932^†; Niemeyer 1868; Pocock 1900; Rafinesque 1821 (p. 115); Reuter 1924; Rörig 1903 (citing Niemeyer); Scaliger (1612, p. 648); Seton 1929; Wittmer 1925.

By the same author: Handbook of Avian Hybrids of the World, Oxford University Press (2006).

Dog-fox Hybrids - © Macroevolution.net

Dog-fox Hybrids - © Macroevolution.net