The Origins of the Arctic Fox
The arctic fox lives in the far northern Arctic region with other well-known arctic animals like the caribou, musk ox, and polar bear.Scientists aren’t sure exactly when the arctic fox first evolved. Arctic fox bone fragments from the Pleistocene epoch (2.6 million-11,700 years ago) are rare, and the ones that do exist are difficult to date with any degree of accuracy. The oldest confirmed arctic fox bone is believed to be 200,000 years old. There are other bones that may be 400,000 years old, but whether they belonged to an arctic fox or some other fox remains under debate. “It’s still an open question,”says Love Dalen,a Swedish biologist who has been using genetics in an attempt to understand the evolution of the arctic fox. “Right now the best estimate is that arctic foxes emerged somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 years ago, presumably during one of the ice Ages.”
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