Urban foxes are growing more ‘similar to domesticated dogs’, research finds
Situation thought to be similar to how common pet species adapted to life among humans
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Urban red foxes are becoming more similar to domesticated dogs due to how they have adapted to city environments, according to new analysis.
The research found urban foxes in the UK have a smaller brain size capacity than their rural counterparts with a different snout shape also helping forage for food in urban surroundings.
With most lockdown measures still in place, the research also suggested there have been more frequent animal sightings in the cities where red foxes have become well-established.
Dr Kevin Parsons – of the University of Glasgow's Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine – led the study team.
He said: “We wondered whether this change in lifestyle was related to adaptive differences between urban and rural populations of red foxes.
“We assessed skulls from hundreds of foxes found within London and the surrounding countryside, and saw that urban foxes had a smaller brain size capacity but also a different snout shape that would help them forage within urban habitats.
“This could tell us whether the evolution of urban/rural differences was completely unique or something that has potentially happened previously.
“It turned out that the way urban and rural foxes differed matched up with a pattern of fox evolution that has occurred over millions of years between species.
“While the amount of change isn't as big, this showed that this recent evolutionary change in foxes is dependent upon deep-seated tendencies for how foxes can change.
“In other words, these changes were not caused by random mutations having random effects the way many might think evolution occurs.”
Researchers from the universities of Bristol, Edinburgh and Massachusetts were also involved in the analysis which tested the differences of the various species of foxes.
Co-author Dr Andrew Kitchener, from National Museums Scotland, said the study's findings can also explain how dogs evolved to become pets.
He said: “Human-animal interactions are continuous and some of the basic environmental aspects that may have occurred during the initial phases of domestication for our current pets, like dogs and cats, were probably similar to the conditions in which our urban foxes and other urban animals are living today.
“Adapting to life around humans actually primes some animals for domestication.”
The research paper, Skull morphology diverges between urban and rural populations of red foxes mirroring patterns of domestication and macroevolution, is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B.
Press Association
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments