Cape fox
| Cape fox | |
|---|---|
| Adult feeding on a helmeted guineafowl in Etosha National Park | |
| Cape fox kits | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Canidae |
| Genus: | Vulpes |
| Species: | V. chama |
| Binomial name | |
| Vulpes chama (A Smith, 1833) | |
| Cape fox range | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Cape fox (Vulpes chama), also called the asse, cama fox or the silver-backed fox, is a small species of fox, native to southern Africa. It is also called a South African version of a fennec fox due to its similarly big ears. It is the only "true fox" occurring in sub-Saharan Africa, and it retains primitive characteristics of Vulpes because it diverged early in the evolutionary history of the group.