South American fox
The South American foxes ("Lycalopex"), commonly called "raposa" in Portuguese, or "zorro" in Spanish, are a genus from South America of the subfamily Caninae. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus more closely related to wolves and jackals than to true foxes; some of them resemble foxes due to convergent evolution. The South American gray fox, "Lycalopex griseus", is the most common species, and is known for its large ears and a highly marketable, russet-fringed pelt. The second-oldest known fossils belonging to the genus were discovered in Chile , and date from 2.0 to 2.5 million years ago, in the mid- to late Pliocene. The Vorohué Formation of Argentina has provided older fossils, dating to the Uquian to Ensenadan (Late Pliocene). Names. The common English word "zorro" is a loan word from Spanish, with the word originally meaning "fox". Current usage lists "Pseudalopex" (literally: "false fox") as synonymous with "Lycalopex" ("wolf fox"), with the latter taking precedence. In 1895, Allen classified "Pseudalopex" as a subgenus of "Canis", establishing the combination "Canis (Pseudalopex)", a name still used in the fossil record. Species. Species currently included in this genus include: In  1914, Oldfield Thomas established the genus "Dusicyon", in which he included these zorros. They were later reclassified to "Lycalopex" (via "Pseudalopex") by Langguth in 1975. Phylogeny. The following phylogenetic tree shows the evolutionary relationships between the "Lycalopex" species, based on molecular analysis of mitochondrial DNA control region sequences. Relationship with humans. The zorros are hunted in Argentina for their durable, soft pelts. They are also often labelled 'lamb-killers'. The "Fuegian dog" (), also known as the Yaghan dog, was a domesticated form of the culpeo ("Lycalopex culpaeus"), unlike other domesticated canids which were dogs and silver foxes. This means different  canid species have been domesticated multiple times by humans independently.