island fox

[ ahy-luhnd foks ]

noun

1. a fox, Urocyon littoralis, whose entire population lives on six of the eight Channel Islands of California, with each island population a subspecies distinct from those on the other islands: a third smaller than its ancestor the gray fox, the island fox is the largest mammal native to the Channel Islands yet is one of the world’s smallest canids.

Word History and Origins

Origin of island fox¹

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

The most famous of these is the island fox, an adorable floof that’s roughly the size of a well-fed house cat.

From Outside Online