South America's so-called foxes are mis-named, as these native wild dogs are more closely related to wolves and domestic dogs than to the true, Old World foxes, genus Vulpes. They constitute several different species and genera, some very much alive, others long extinct. And then there is one, Dusicyon avus, or Argentina's avus fox for convenience, that although extinct today, died out only recently, in around 400 BP (1454-1626 AD), and for mystifying reasons that have yet to be conclusively established.
Moreover, another, newly-revealed mystery surrounds this enigmatic canid – was it the first (and only) mainland South American fox species to have been domesticated by humans?
The reason for this unexpected line of speculation derives from a new and truly remarkable archaeological discovery – the remains of an avus fox purposefully buried inside a human grave dating back 1500 years in a burial site at Cañada Seca, in Patagonia, Argentina.
Another avus fox had been found inside an even older human grave almost a decade previously elsewhere in Argentina, at Loma de los Muertos in General Conesa, but what makes the later, Patagonian find so interesting is that whereas the diet of the earlier specimen had not been examined, DNA analysis has shown that the Patagonian specimen had dined with prehistoric hunter gatherers and was part of their camp's inner circle. Click here to access the original scientific paper formally documenting this research.
Commenting upon this find's extreme rarity, Dr Ophélie Lebrasseur from the University of Oxford opined here: "I think it was more than just symbolic; I really do think it was companionship".
Also relevant is that the avus fox's closest relative is also nowadays extinct, but became so even more recently, in 1876, after being not only hunted for its fur but also deliberately poisoned by farmers concerned that it may pose a threat to their sheep.
Indigenous to the Falkland Islands and traditionally deemed their only native species of land mammal, the so-called Falklands wolf or warrah D. australis has lately been considered by some researchers to have been introduced here in domesticated form by human voyagers from South America (worth noting is that the warrah was remarkably tame, wholly unafraid of humans).
Additionally, DNA analyses have revealed that it diverged evolutionarily from the avus fox a mere 16,000 years ago. In short, a creature intimately allied to the avus fox was still alive as recently as the mid-1870s.
This leads me to wonder whether, as the avus fox's own historical, mainland extinction remains unresolved, perhaps that is because such an event never actually happened. That is, perhaps a remnant avus fox population still lurks scientifically undetected amid the wildernesses of Argentina, within Patagonia's vast pampas expanses, having retreated there once domestic dogs arrived in South Anerica and supplanted the avus fox in the affections of humans?
All of this is currently speculative, of course, but fascinating nonetheless.
