If you organize a you can guess, then many animal names are actually quite difficult to guess, except for one species -
I just have to squint my eyes and draw a big face, and you will know who it is...
That's right, it's the meme that no one knows, and the animal kingdom walks on— the Tibetan fox.
Hidden Fox, how to describe the small expression on your generous face? Ruthless, indisputable, disdainful, seeing through the red dust, ________________ (Please answer in the comments)
The face is big and square
Having said that, I have to discuss a question with you - do you know why the face of the Tibetan fox is so square?
There are two reasons for this.
One is because their nose snout is slender and their chewing muscles are developed. The Tibetan fox belongs to the genus Fox, and the snout of the Tibetan fox is relatively longer than other species in the same genus, which means that more developed bones and muscles are needed to support the distal mouth movement.
Brothers and sisters of the genus Fox
Image courtesy of wikipedia
This is somewhat similar to the principle of leverage, the longer the leverage of the Tibetan fox, the greater the force required to pry the leverage, and the corresponding chewing muscles, jawbone and cheekbones are more developed, so the face is more square.
The skeletal structure of the head of the Tibetan fox is not fat, but a large skeleton
Image from wikipedia
The second reason is easier to understand, because the hair on the cheeks of the Tibetan fox is relatively long...
As you can see, this may have something to do with keeping warm.
Not only is the face big, but the skin is also thick
To survive in the highland areas above three thousand meters above sea level, the Tibetan fox is by no means a vegetarian.
Most of their food is pika rabbits, so what tibetan foxes do every day is to "fight gophers".
Grab one!
The process of the Tibetan fox "hitting the gopher" is not like in the game, taking a hammer and attacking from the perspective of God, but first secretly observing, finding the target, and then pressing down like a domestic cat, creeping forward, secretly approaching the target, and waiting until it is close enough to suddenly attack.
At this time, the short legs of the Tibetan fox will "disappear", and the color of the body will also merge with the environment. But even so, many times the pika will still swoop back into the hole.
Tibetan Fox: As far as my leg is concerned, do you dare to say that it is short???
Fortunately, the pika has, and after a while, they will come out, and they will be hungry and panicking without eating
The Tibetan fox occasionally eats small birds, insects, lizards, and even marmots of similar size. In fact, the relationship between the Tibetan fox and the marmot is very delicate, and it is not as simple as eating and being eaten.
Marmots were frightened by ten thousand points from the fox
Image from: CCTV News Photo: Bao Yongqing
As the saying goes, "The dragon gives birth to the dragon, the phoenix gives birth to the phoenix, and the son of the mouse will punch holes." As rodents, marmots naturally dig burrows to build nests, which are not only a haven for their hibernation, but also a breeding ground in spring and summer. But the canine Tibetan fox also needs to breed, and like other foxes, the Tibetan fox also breeds in the burrow.
The bad news is that the Tibetan fox itself can't make holes, but the good news is that there are holes in the ground on the plateau - they are all dug by marmots, hahahahahaha
Marmot: Wants to eat me again, and thinks about my home
In May and June, the Tibetan fox hides its newborn cubs in relatively warm and safe marmot burrows. During the non-breeding season, the Tibetan fox will also squeeze the marmot away from the home he dug up by his own hands, just to sleep in it.
You say the Tibetan fox has a big face?
Image courtesy of The Unaccessed Realm
The feces of the Tibetan fox will not be trampled
I have a friend (I'm not going to talk about it next) who studied Tibetan foxes when I was in graduate school, but she told me that after so many years of research, I had never seen a Tibetan fox once.
After I listened, I was as surprised as you were reading this article with your mobile phone: "So you study a fart?" ”
I'm not studying farts, it's Tibetan fox, which the members of the research team picked up from the wild.
"Collecting Tibetan fox feces and studying the DNA in it can identify different individuals, then calculate the population, know how many Tibetan foxes there are in this area, and even further study the age structure and sex ratio of Tibetan foxes in this population, which is equivalent to doing a 'census'."
"Of course, the feces will not be 'badly abused', and there is a lot of information that can be mined in a sample, such as parasite eggs can be detected from it."
In fact, parasite eggs are exactly how parasites spread and find new hosts. Therefore, in the absence of protective measures, do not touch wild animal feces of unknown origin.
The Tibetan fox is cute, but please don't touch it
After our "Naturalist" perseverance in science (nagging), I believe you already know that animals can not be touched at will.
Giant pandas raised in zoos cannot be touched, and pandas are not good for people (detailed link); wild marmots cannot be touched, otherwise they may be infected with plague; and marmot's little friend, the Tibetan fox, cannot be touched, because the Tibetan fox is the host of another zoonotic pathogen, fine-grained echinococcus tapeworm.
Tapeworm disease that humans can infect is severe, which is the most serious one. Since the picture is more disgusting, we will not put the picture, interested friends can search for themselves (but do not have to).
Finally, let's take a look at our natural emoji!
Review of past articles
Proto-hamster Himalayan marmot Honey marsupial
Eurasian red squirrel Capybara Dai Sheng Crown Puffin
Red-crowned crane, cuckoo, palm cockatoo
Mimetic octopus Blue ring octopus White spotted squid
American Red Squid Palau Nautilus Whale-headed Stork
Snow Leopard Northern Rock-Jumping Penguin Spoon-billed Sandpiper Northern White Rhinoceros
Bidong eggplant Large flowers four flowers Bulbophyllum Orchid Yang Golden Phoenix
Fringed tree killer whale Humpback whale Blue whale
One-horned whale Sperm whale Snake spp. Flycatcher
Vermilion Red Monkey Face Dragon Orchid Dipterocarpaceae
Spotted flying lizard Sulcata tortoise Emerald green snake
Cat-eyed pearl frog Ganges river crocodile red panda badger
Raccoon civet civet rabbit
Written by | Wu Haifeng
WeChat Editor | glad