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ARCTIC FOX
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Dictionary entry overview: What does Arctic fox mean?
• ARCTIC FOX (noun)
The noun ARCTIC FOX has 1 sense:
1. thickly-furred fox of Arctic regions; brownish in summer and white in winter
Familiarity information: ARCTIC FOX used as a noun is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Thickly-furred fox of Arctic regions; brownish in summer and white in winter
Classified under:
Nouns denoting animals
Synonyms:
Alopex lagopus; Arctic fox; white fox
Hypernyms ("Arctic fox" is a kind of...):
fox (alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Arctic fox"):
blue fox (a variety of Arctic fox having a pale grey winter coat)
Holonyms ("Arctic fox" is a member of...):
Alopex; genus Alopex (arctic foxes)
Context examples
Research conducted in the Himalayan Mountains identify a recently discovered three to five million-year-old Tibetan fox, Vulpes qiuzhudingi, as the likely ancestor of the living arctic fox, Vulpes lagopus.
("Out of Tibet" hypothesis: Cradle of evolution for cold-adapted mammals is in Tibet, NSF)
In a recent paper Mills asks how evolution has shaped the coat color trait for multiple species around the world, from hares to weasels to arctic fox.
(Twenty-one species adapted to disappear in the snow. Then, the snow disappeared, National Science Foundation)
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