The body is narrow and the ears large and erect. The dentition of the maned wolf reflects its food habits. The maned wolf is omnivorous. It eats armadillos, rabbits, rodents and other small mammals, fish, birds, bird eggs, reptiles, gastropods and other terrestrial mollusks, insects, seasonably available fruits, and other vegetation. Fruits taken include bananas, guavas, and primarily the tomato-like Solanum lycocarpum.
Vegetation eaten is often in the form of roots and bulbs.
Vertebrate prey do not often include large domestic stock, but an occasional newborn lamb or pig is taken by Chrysocyon. The maned wolf, much to the dislike of poultry farmers, frequently feeds upon free-ranging chickens. Reproduction Little is known about the reproductive patterns of wild maned wolves. Females are monoestrous. The estrous lasts for a period of one to four days.