The story took place in 2021 and could be the beginning of a film. That year occurs An outrage in an area of southern Brazil. It is not a human, it is a dog to which they move to a rehabilitation center to treat it urgently. The first analysis of the animal attracts the attention of the veterinarians. Subsequent tests left no doubt: he barking and had the appearance of a canine, but they have never seen anything Not remotely similar.
Dogxim, hybrid. Yes, that strange dog showed unusual behaviors: he refused to eat croquettes, preferred to hunt rats and climbed shrubs like a fox of the pampas. What at first seemed an individual rarity proved to be A scientific scoop: After months of genetic analysis, a team of Brazilian researchers confirmed that it was the first documented hybrid between a domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) and a fox of the pampas (Lycalopex gymnocercus), two species separated by about 6.7 million years of evolution.
The animal, a baptized female as “dogx” (Combining “Dog” and “Graxaim do Campo”, local name of the fox), surprised the scientific community for its mere genetic viability, an extremely rare phenomenon between different genres within the family of canids.
The proof of the improbable. To certify the hybrid origin of Dogxim, the researchers began by count your chromosomes: It was 76, an intermediate number between the 78 of the dog and the 74 of the Pampas fox. Mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that his mother was a fox female, and nuclear DNA confirmed a genetic mixture Between dog and fox.
The combination was possible because both belong to the Canidae familyalthough NO TO THE SAME GENDERwhich makes your cross even more unusual. In nature, hybrids tend to emerge among evolutionarily near species, such as coyotes and wolves. However, this case is more similar to a hypothetical viable crossing Between humans and chimpanzeessomething considered biologically unfeasible. In other words, the fact that Dogxim existed, and was functional for at least two years, represented an anomaly of high evolutionary and conservationist interest.
Dogxim
Human influence. There is much more, since the researchers stressed that the existence of Dogxim seemed to have been facilitated by human pressure About ecosystems. The natural habitat of the fox of the pampas, characterized by extensive plains from the Brazilian southhas been increasingly reduced by livestock and urban expansion.
The phenomenon, apparently, has forced greater contact between foxes and dogs, particularly those abandoned by their owners in wild areas. This territorial overlap, added to the abandonment of pets, increases the probability of Reproductive meetings between both species. Although foxes are not in danger of extinction, such interaction raises risks, both for the genetic integrity of the species and for their population health, for example, by exposing it to new diseases or harmful genes.
A creature and its limits. While some scientists believe that this type of hybrid will continue to be extremely rare, the Dogxim case put on the table the debate on the Effects of hybridization in accelerated environmental change contexts. Although the creature seemed healthy and was transferred to a state center, He died in 2023 For causes still unknown. Its black color, canine inheritance, contrasted with the light fur of the foxes of its species, which probably did it less suitable for surviving In its natural environment.
Plus: the interspecific hybrids They usually present genetic, fertility or behavior problems, which makes them more vulnerable. In spite of this, its only existence suggests that the limits of natural hybridization could be more flexible than what was thought, especially in a world where ecological changes are formed between species that did not interact before.
Implications It is the last of the legs to analyze. Beyond its anecdotal value, Dogxim poses crucial questions about the conservation of species and the alteration of its evolutionary dynamics by human influence. While there is no evidence that these hybrids can form stable populations, their appearance can have indirect effects, from the introduction of pathogens to the genetic dilution of wild populations.
Perhaps for this reason, the researchers urge deepen the study of the ecological and evolutionary consequences of this phenomenon. The hybrid creature, after all, was not simply a genetic curiosity, was a reminder of diffuse limits between species in a world increasingly alteredwhere the unlikely is no longer impossible.
Image | Errazking, Thales Renato Ochotorena de Freitas
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