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The bat-eared fox ( Otocyon megalotis) is a species of fox found on the African savanna. It is the only extant species of the genus Otocyon and a basal species of Canidae. Fossil records indicate this canid first appeared during the Chibanian. There are two separate populations of the bat-eared fox, each of which makes up a subspecies. The bat referred to in its colloquial name is possibly the Egyptian slit-faced bat ( Nycteris thebaica), which is abundant in the region and has very large ears. Other vernacular names include big-eared fox, black-eared fox, long-eared fox, Delalande's fox, cape fox, and motlosi.
It is named for its large ears, which have a role in thermoregulation. It is a small canid, being of comparable size to the closely related cape fox and common raccoon dog. Its fur varies in color depending on the subspecies, but is generally tan-colored and has of a grey agouti color. The bat-eared fox is found in Southern Africa and East Africa, though the two subspecies are separated by an unpopulated region spanning approximately . In its range, the bat-eared fox digs dens for shelter and to raise its young, and lives in social groups or pairs that hunt and Social grooming together.
The bat-eared fox eats mainly Insect—a diet unique among canids. It forages in arid and semi-arid environments, preferring regions with bare ground and where keep grasses short, and locates prey by using its hearing, walking slowly with its nose to the ground and ears tilted forwards. Most of its diet is made up of harvester termites, which also hydrates the bat-eared fox, as it does not drink from free-standing water. By feeding on harvester termites, it acts as a means of population control for these insects, which are considered pests in regions populated by humans. In such regions, it has been hunted for its fur. No major threats to the bat-eared fox exist, and as such it is considered to be a least-concern species.
Due to its unusual dentition—, the largest number of teeth known in any non-marsupial land mammal—the bat-eared fox was previously placed in a distinct subfamily of , Otocyoninae, as no relationship to any living species of canid could be established.
The following cladogram is based on figures by Lindblad-Toh et al., 2005:
| Southern Africa |
| East Africa |
Generally, the pelage is tan-colored, with gray Guard hair of an agouti coloration. The undersides and throat are pale. The limbs are dark, shading to dark brown or black at their extremities. The muzzle, the tip and upperside of the tail and the facial mask are black. The insides of the ears are white. Individuals of the East African subspecies, O. m. virgatus, tend toward a buff pelage with dark brown markings, as opposed to the black of O. m. megalotis. The proportionally large ears of bat-eared foxes, a characteristic shared by many other inhabitants of hot, arid climates, such as the desert cottontail, help to Thermoregulation. They also help in locating prey.
The teeth are not the bat-eared fox's only morphological adaptation for its diet. On the lower jaw, a step-like protrusion is present called the subangular process, which is present in only a few canid species and both increases the bite force of the masseter muscle and anchors the large digastric muscle to allow for rapid chewing. The digastric muscle is also modified to allow for opening and closing the jaw five times per second.
Bat-eared foxes are adapted to arid or semi-arid environments. They are commonly found in short , as well as the more arid regions of the , along woodland edges, and in open acacia woodlands. They prefer bare ground and areas where grass is kept short by grazing and tend to hunt in these short grass and low shrub habitats. However, they do venture into areas with tall grasses and thick shrubs to hide when threatened.
In addition to raising their young in dens, bat-eared foxes use self-dug dens for shelter from extreme temperatures and winds. They also lie under acacia trees in South Africa to seek shade during the day.
Visual displays are important in communication among bat-eared foxes. When they are looking intently at something, the head is held high, eyes are open, ears are erect and facing forward, and the mouth is closed. When an individual is in threat or showing submission, the ears are pulled back and lying against the head and the head is low. The tail also plays a role in communication. When an individual is asserting dominance or aggression, feeling threatened, playing, or being sexually aroused, the tail is arched in an inverted U shape. Individuals can also use piloerection, which occurs when individual hairs are standing straight, to make it appear larger when faced with extreme threat. When running, chasing, or fleeing, the tail is straight and horizontal. The bat-eared fox can recognize individuals up to away. The recognition process has three steps: First they ignore the individual, then they stare intently, and finally they either approach or attack without displays. When greeting another, the approaching individual shows symbolic submission which is received by the other individual with a high head and tail down. Few vocalizations are used for communication, but contact calls and warning calls are used, mostly during the winter. Scent gland and scratching, other than for digging, are absent in communication, although they appear to establish by scent marking.
In the more northern areas of its range (around Serengeti), they are Nocturnality 85% of the time. However, around South Africa, they are nocturnal only in the summer and diurnal during the winter.
When this particular species of termite is not available, their opportunistic diet allows a wide variety of food items to be taken: they can consume other species of termites, other such as , (especially Scarabaeidae), crickets, , , , , , and rarely birds, birds' eggs and chicks, small mammals, reptiles, and fungi (the desert truffle Kalaharituber). Berries, seeds, and wild fruit also are consumed. The bat-eared fox refuses to feed on snouted harvester termites, likely because it is not adapted to tolerate the termites' chemical defense.
Bat-eared foxes require water for lactation, but have not been observed drinking from free-standing water. They meet their water requirements through the high water content of their diet.
Bat-eared foxes usually hunt in groups, often splitting up in pairs, with separated subgroups moving through the same general area. When termites are plentiful, feeding aggregations of up to 15 individuals from different families occur. (2025). 9781472982674, Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472982674 Individuals foraging alone after family groups break in June or July and during the months after pups birth.
Prey is located primarily by auditory means, rather than by smell or sight. Foraging patterns vary between seasons and populations, and coincide with termite availability. In eastern Africa, nocturnal foraging is the rule, while in southern Africa, nocturnal foraging during summer slowly changes to an almost solely Diurnality pattern during the winter. Foraging techniques depend on prey type, but food is often located by walking slowly, nose close to the ground and ears tilted forward. It usually occurs in patches, which match the clumped prey resources, such as termite colonies, that also occur in patches. Groups are able to forage on clumps of prey in patches because they do not fight each other for food due to their degree of sociality and lack of territoriality. As the bat-eared fox's range overlaps with that of the aardvark, it will take advantage of termite mounds opened up by the latter animal, as will Aardwolf.
Pups in the Kalahari region are born September–November and those in the Botswana region are born October–December. Young bat-eared foxes disperse and leave their family groups at 5–6 months old and reach sexual maturity at 8–9 months. Bat-eared foxes have been recorded reaching maximum lifespans of over 14 to 17 years in captivity, and up to 9 years in the wild.
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