Artic+Fox

=​​​The Arctic Fox =

=Scientific Name= The arctic fox's full scientific name is //Alopex lagopus//, however, it is also referred to as //Vulpes lagopus//.

=Morphology= The arctic fox weighs about 6 to 17 pounds (3 to 8 kilograms). The length of its head to its body is anywhere from 18 to 27 inches (49 to 69 centimeters). Its thick bushy tail can be 14 inches (36 centimeters) long. There are 2 kinds of coloring for arctic foxes. Most have a white winter coat and a summer coat of a mottled gray-brown shade on the back with gray and white tones on the belly. Others are a dark gray-brown in the summer and gray-black with a bluish tinge in the winter.

 

=Habitat/ Ecosystem= The arctic fox is found in the far north, mainly in the Arctic Circle. Freezing cold conditions await the foxes in their 8 month winter. During this time, powerful snowstorms are common and temperatures can fall to -58°F (-50°C). The sun doesn't rise in much of the Arctic winter, so it's dark 24 hours a day. In the summer, arctic foxes live in the tundra at the edge of forest. Unlike the winter, there are about 18 weeks in each summer in which the sun doesn't set.

=Two Animals Nearby=

__Reindeer__-

 * Also called caribou, reindeer live in herds as large as 500,000
 * They are about 4 feet (1.2 meters) at the shoulder and weigh as much as 550 pounds (249 kilograms)[[image:reindeer3.jpg width="250" height="178" align="right" caption="Two reindeer"]]
 * Male and female both have antlers which can grow up to 5 feet (1.5 meters) long
 * They have 2 layers of fur

__Polar Bears__-

 * Polar bears grow to be about 5 feet (1.5 meters) tall at the shoulder and weigh about 900 to 1,600 pounds (408 to 726 kilograms)
 * They only eat meat, making them carnivores
 * They have black skin that absorbs heat from the sun
 * They have no natural predators

=Two Plants Nearby=

__Arctic Poppy__-

 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Arctic poppies can grow up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) tall
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">They grow a single flower per stem
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">They turn their face to follow the sun
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">They have cup-shaped petals to help better absorb sunlight

__Lichen__-

 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Lichens consist of a fungus and either algae or autotrophic bacteria that live together in a beneficial relationship
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The algae or bacteria produces food
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The fungus provides shelter, water, and minerals
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Lichens grow on the surface of rocks and tree barks
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">They are the first organisms to appear on the bare rocks in an area in which a volcanic eruption, fire, or a rock slide has occurred
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Lichens are sensitive to air pollution [[image:230px-N2_Lichen.jpg align="center" caption="Crustose lichens on a wall"]]

=Adaptations= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The arctic fox has several adaptations that enables it to survive so far in the north:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A good supply of body fat to act as insulation against the cold
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A white winter coat for camouflage
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A rounded body shape, shorter legs, ears, nose, and muzzle to help keep body heat from escaping
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Fur on the bottom of their paws to let them walk on ice to find food
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A deep, thick coat of fur to keep warm in the frigid winter

=Human Use?= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Arctic foxes are trapped and hunted by humans in the winter, when their fur is thickest. Humans use the fur to make coats and other accessories. Luckily, arctic foxes' large litters of 7 to 15 cubs help keep their population from falling.



=More Facts=
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Arctic foxes are also known as "white foxes, polar foxes, and snow foxes".[[image:article-1137863-0351F718000005DC-55_634x411.jpg width="378" height="243" align="right" caption="This arctic fox is following a polar bear in hope of extra food."]]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Sometimes, an arctic fox has only one option left for finding food- snatching it from a polar bear!
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Arctic foxes live only about an average of 3 years in the wild.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">An arctic fox's tail is called a "brush".
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In order to survive in the winter, arctic foxes, like squirrels, dig holes and bury food in them. Later, they'll dig the food up again when there's little to eat.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Arctic foxes have the warmest fur of any mammal in the world.

=Food Web= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Below is a food web of the arctic hare. To the upper left of it, you can see the arctic fox-

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Arctic foxes are omnivores who eat what they can find. Their main source of meat are lemmings. They also eat voles, ground squirrels, birds, birds' eggs, insects, fish, seaweed, berries, and carrion. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">When food is hard to come by, they eat the feces of other animals.

=Other Animals at the Genus Level= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The arctic fox is the only animal in the genus //Alopex.// However,there //are// other animals in the genus //Vulpes.//





=Extras= <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> [|Arctic Fox Wordsearch.pdf]

[|Arctic Fox Crossword.pdf]

[|The Arctic Fox (Powerpoint).ppt]