When you first take a look at the maned wolf you notice it's similar look of it's face to a red fox but it's long legs are what make you take a second look. It kinda reminded me of that scene in Harry Potter and the Prizoner of azkaban ,when professor Lupin turned into that hideous werewolf ,with those freakishly long legs.Even though this species has the word”wolf” in it's name, and has a face of a fox , and the long legs like the ghazelle.It is in fact none of them.
Genus :Chrysocyon(1),it is the only species in this genus (meaning "golden dog").The maned wolf derives its name from the characteristic mane on its neck which stands erect when it scents danger(11). The Maned Wolf has especially long legs which help them hide in …show more content…
The ancestors of the maned wolf are thought to have spread from North to South America about two million years ago. Broken away from other wolf species in North America, the maned wolf evolved into the unique animal that it is today.(88)
The sister taxa for the chrysocyon(maned wolf) is the speothos venaticus(bush dog).Both of these animals common ancestor is the cerdocyonina (the crab eating fox).And belong to the clade amniota.
Nutrition and habitat relation:The animals can generally be found in open grasslands in Brasil, Perú, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina(3).The maned wolf is an omnivore.In Brazil the grassland is very low in nitrogen,That is why no large grazing herds are found in that area .So the maned wolf developed survival tactics that are different from what a lion of cheetah would have.It's long legs allow it to see above the tall grass while running.And it has large ears to help it find its prey.When trying to catch something like a mouse it stompes on the ground to force the mouse to run and listens with it's large ears for any movement the mouse might make.So these small animals are it's main source of nitrogen.But feeding on small animals like rabbits and pacas(both fast running preys) causes it to spend a lot of energy for a small reward,so it also feeds on fruits. Particular a fruit called Solanum lycocarpum, “the wolf apple”, is common in the Brazilian savannah.(7)(4) Their diet composition is 60% vegetal items and 40% animal ones, and they are