Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that answer the question.
Query: Are foxes part of the canidae family?
The biological family Canidae /ˈkænɪdiː/ [3] (from Latin, canis, “dog”) is a lineage of carnivorans that includes domestic dogs, wolves, coyotes, foxes, jackals, dingoes, and many other extant and extinct dog-like mammals. A member of this family is called a canid (/ˈkænɪd/, /ˈkeɪnɪd/).[4]
Cerdocyon avius is an extinct species of omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, which inhabited North and South America during the Pliocene from 4.9 to approximately 2.6 Ma. It was similar to the modern crab-eating fox.
The South American foxes ("Lycalopex"), commonly called "raposa" in Portuguese, or "zorro" in Spanish, are a genus of the family Canidae from South America. Despite their name, they are not true foxes, but are a unique canid genus related to wolves and jackals, which some somewhat 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.
Family Canidae (dogs, wolves, and foxes)
Within the Canidae, the results of DNA analysis shows several phylogenetic divisions:
The genus Urocyon (from the Greek word for "tailed dog") is a genus that contains two (or possibly three; see next paragraph) living Western Hemisphere foxes in the family Canidae; the gray fox ("Urocyon cinereoargenteus") and the closely related island fox ("Urocyon littoralis"), which is a dwarf cousin of the gray fox; as well as one fossil species, "Urocyon progressus".
A fox is a small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammal belonging to several genera of the family Canidae
Vulpes lagopus is a 'true fox' belonging to the genus Vulpes of the fox tribe Vulpini, which consists of 12 extant species.[30] It is classified under the subfamily Caninae of the canid family Canidae. Although it has previously been assigned to its own monotypic genus Alopex, recent genetic evidence now places it in the genus Vulpes along with the majority of other foxes.[8][34]
Carnivora are generally divided into the suborders Feliformia (cat-like) and Caniformia (dog-like), the latter of which includes the pinnipeds. The pinnipeds are part of a clade, known as the Arctoidea, which also includes the Ursidae (bears) and the superfamily Musteloidea. The Musteloidea in turn consists of the Mustelidae (mustelids: weasels), Procyonidae (procyonids: raccoons), Mephitidae (skunks) and "Ailurus" (red panda). The oldest caniforms are the "Miacis" species "Miacis cognitus", the Amphicyonidae (bear-dogs) such as "Daphoenus", and "Hesperocyon" (of the family Canidae, subfamily Hesperocyoninae). Hesperocyonine canids first appeared in North America, and the earliest species is currently dated at 39.74 mya, but they were not represented in Europe until well into the Miocene, and not into Asia and Africa until the Pliocene. "Miacis" and Amphicyonidae were the first of the caniforms to split from the others and are sometimes considered to be sister groups to Ursidae, but the exact closeness of Amphicyonidae and Ursidae, as well as Arctoidae to Ursidae, is still uncertain. The Canidae (wolves, coyotes, jackals, foxes and dogs) are generally considered to be the sister group to Arctoidea. The Ursidae first occur in North America in the Late Eocene (ca. 38 mya) as the very small and graceful "Parictis" that had a skull only 7 cm long. Like the canids, this family does not appear in Eurasia and Africa until the Miocene. The other caniform families Amphicyonidae, Mustelidae and Procyonidae occur in both the Old World and the New World by the Late Eocene and Early Oligocene.
In 1997, as part of the contract with Major League Baseball it had signed the year before, Fox gained an additional outlet for its coverage. Its recently launched cable sports network, Fox Sports Net, was given rights to two Thursday night games per week, one for the Eastern and Central time zones and one for the Mountain and Pacific time zones. In 2000, as part of an exclusive contract Fox signed with MLB, that coverage passed to Fox Family Channel and was reduced to one game per week. After the 2000 season, Fox also gained rights to the entire postseason and moved a large portion of its Division Series coverage to Fox Family. This lasted for one season due to The Walt Disney Company making a bid for Fox Family. As part of the negotiations Fox Family was renamed ABC Family and ESPN gained the rights to Fox Family and FX's MLB coverage, although the 2002 Division Series aired on ABC Family due to contractual issues, but with ESPN production, a sign of things to come at ABC Sports. Control of the overall contract remained with Fox, meaning they could renegotiate following the 2006 season and not allow ESPN to retain its postseason coverage. For the 2007 season Fox did exactly that, and TBS is now the cable home of the postseason as part of its new baseball contract.
Other members of the wider dog family, the Canidae, such as South American canids, true foxes, bat-eared foxes, or raccoon dogs which diverged seven to ten million years ago, are less closely related to and cannot hybridize with the wolf-like canids because the red fox has 34 metacentric chromosomes and from 0 to 8 small B chromosomes, the raccoon dog has 42 chromosomes, and the fennec fox has 64 chromosomes.
Vulpes riffautae is an extinct species of fox from the late Miocene of Chad (approximately 7 ma). Fossils of "V. riffautae" potentially represent the earliest record of the dog family, Canidae, in the Old World. "V. riffautae" was intermediate in size between Rüppell's fox ("Vulpes rueppellii") and the fennec fox ("V. zerda").
Other members of the canidae family also figure in Chinese mythology, including wolves and foxes. The portrayal of these is usually quite different than in the case of dogs. 
The family Canidae has several members in Albania including the gray wolf, eurasian wolf, red fox and golden jackal. The distribution range of the gray and eurasian wolf encompasses most of the country's territory. The red fox, which is native, is the largest fox species and appears in every corner of Albania. However, the range of the golden jackal extends across the Western Lowlands along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Coast.
The brown bear, perhaps Albania's most famous wildlife species, is one of the most valuable elements of the biodiversity and plays as well as an important role in biodiversity maintenance. They are found across much of the country, including the Northern, Central and Southern Mountain Range of Albania, and are part of the Dinaric-Pindus population, which is the second largest population in Europe. The brown bear populations in both Albania and the Republic of Macedonia are of significant and important biological and genetic value, as they constitute the connecting populations between the bears of the countries of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia in the northern of the Balkans and the bears of Greece in the south.
Consider a particular species, the red fox, "Vulpes vulpes": the next rank above, the genus "Vulpes", comprises all the "true" foxes. Their closest relatives are in the immediately higher rank, the family Canidae, which includes dogs, wolves, jackals, and all foxes; the next higher rank, the order Carnivora, includes caniforms (bears, seals, weasels, skunks, raccoons and all those mentioned above), and feliforms (cats, civets, hyenas, mongooses). Carnivorans are one group of the hairy, warm-blooded, nursing members of the class Mammalia, which are classified among animals with backbones in the phylum Chordata, and with them among all animals in the kingdom Animalia. Finally, at the highest rank all of these are grouped together with all other organisms possessing cell nuclei in the domain Eukarya.
The superfamily Canoidea (or suborder Caniformia) – Canidae (wolves, dogs and foxes), Mephitidae (skunks and stink badgers), Mustelidae (weasels, badgers, and otters), Procyonidae (raccoons), Ursidae (bears), Ailuridae (red panda), Otariidae (eared seals), Odobenidae (walrus), and Phocidae (earless seals) (the last three families formerly classified in the superfamily Pinnipedia) and the extinct family Amphicyonidae (bear-dogs) – are characterized by having nonchambered or partially chambered auditory bullae, nonretractable claws, and a well-developed baculum. Most species are rather plain in coloration, lacking the flashy spotted or rosetted coats like many species of felids and viverrids have. This is because Canoidea tend to range in the temperate and subarctic biomes, although Mustelidae and Procyonidae have a few tropical species. Most are terrestrial, although a few species, like procyonids, are arboreal. All families except the Canidae and a few species of Mustelidae are plantigrade. Diet is varied and most tend to be omnivorous to some degree, and thus the carnassial teeth are less specialized. Canoidea have more premolars and molars in an elongated skull.
Among the Canidae, the raccoon dog shares the habit of regularly climbing trees only with the North American gray fox, another basal species. 
DNA analysis shows that the first three form monophyletic clades. The wolf-like canids and the South American canids together form the tribe Canini.[9] Molecular data imply a North American origin of living Canidae some ten million years ago and an African origin of wolf-like canines (Canis, Cuon, and Lycaon), with the jackals being the most basal of this group. The South American clade is rooted by the maned wolf and bush dog, and the fox-like canids by the fennec fox and Blanford's fox. The gray fox and island fox are basal to the other clades; however, this topological difference is not strongly supported.[10]
The red fox is an introduced species within the park.
Order: Carnivora, Family: Canidae
Family Canidae (dogs and other canids) includes wolves, dogs, coyotes, and foxes, as well as a number of less familiar animals. The family is currently divided into two major groups, the true dogs (tribe Canini), which includes nine genera, and the true foxes (tribe Vulpini) with two genera. In addition, two basal genera are described. About 35 species of extant canids are currently recognized. Canids are the most social of all caniforms, sometimes living in packs. The dog is the most diverse of all mammals in terms of body structure variants.
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae.
Canidae Canini Canina Canis lupus familiaris (domestic dog) Canis lupus (gray wolf) Canis latrans (coyote) Canis anthus (African golden wolf) Canis simensis (Ethiopian wolf) Canis aureus (Eurasian golden jackal) Cuon alpinus (dhole or Asiatic wild dog) Lycaon pictus (African wild dog) Canis mesomelas (black-backed jackal) Canis adustus (side-striped jackal) Cerdocyonina Speothos venaticus (bush dog) Chrysocyon brachyurus (maned wolf) Dusicyon australis (Falkland Islands wolf) Lycalopex Lycalopex vetulus (hoary fox) Lycalopex sechurae (Sechuran fox or Peruvian desert fox) Lycalopex fulvipes (Darwin's fox) Lycalopex gymnocercus (pampas fox) Lycalopex griseus (South American gray fox or chilla) Lycalopex culpaeus (culpeo or Andean fox) Cerdocyon thous (crab-eating fox) Atelocynus microtis (short-eared dog) Vulpini Otocyon megalotis (bat-eared fox) Nyctereutes procyonoides (raccoon dog) Vulpes Vulpes zerda (fennec fox) Vulpes cana (Blanford's fox) Vulpes chama (Cape fox) Vulpes vulpes (red fox) Vulpes rueppellii (Ruppell's fox) Vulpes corsac (corsac fox) Vulpes ferrilata (Tibetan sand fox) Vulpes macrotis (Kit fox) Vulpes lagopus (Arctic fox) Urocyon Urocyon littoralis (island fox) Urocyon cinereoargenteus (gray fox)
Besides livestock, other mammals can also be found in dry grassland areas. It even is the biome with the highest density of Indian foxes (Vulpes bengalensis) in the world, but because of the lack of attention to conservation of dry grassland, research suggest that the Indian fox might become a threatened species in the future. Besides Canidae like the Indian fox, dry grassland can also be populated by Felidae and in particular Geoffroy's cat (Leopardus geoffroyi). This species can be found in the dry grasslands of Argentina and other parts of southern South America. Their main diet is small rodents, which are also common mammals in a dry grassland biome.
Foxes are generally smaller than some other members of the family Canidae such as wolves and jackals, while they may be larger than some within the family, such as Raccoon dogs. In the largest species, the red fox, males weigh on average between , while the smallest species, the fennec fox, weighs just . Fox-like features typically include a triangular face, pointed ears, an elongated rostrum, and a bushy tail. Foxes are digitigrade, and thus, walk on their toes. Unlike most members of the family Canidae, foxes have partially retractable claws. Fox vibrissae, or whiskers, are black. The whiskers on the muzzle, mystaciae vibrissae, average long, while the whiskers everywhere else on the head average to be shorter in length. Whiskers (carpal vibrissae) are also on the forelimbs and average long, pointing downward and backward. Other physical characteristics vary according to habitat and adaptive significance.
The gray fox ("Urocyon cinereoargenteus"), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive Channel Island fox ("Urocyon littoralis"), are the only living members of the genus "Urocyon", which is considered to be the most basal of the living canids. Though it was once the most common fox in the eastern United States, and still is found there, human advancement and deforestation allowed the red fox to become more dominant. The Pacific States still have the gray fox as a dominant. It is the only American canid that can climb trees. Its specific epithet "cinereoargenteus" means "ashen silver".