This lifeform is widespread in North America. This lifeform is found in Central America. This lifeform is common in suitable environments.

Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) is found from Maine through most of Mexico and Central America to Colombia and west to California.  It is absent from Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington. This fox weighs about 8 to 12 pounds, and the head and body are from 20 to 30 inches long.

Wild Dog family contains thirty-four species of foxes, dogs, and wolves that are found in almost all areas of the world. The Hyaenas are usually placed in a separate family.

Below is a  partial list of the species in the dog family:

   AFRICAN SPECIES (ELEVEN SPECIES COMPLETE):

   SPECIES                             LOCATION

   Fennecus zerda (Fennec Fox)         Sahara Desert, Asia Minor
   Canis adustus (Side Stripe Jackal)  Central and south central
                                       Africa
   Canis aureus (Asiatic Jackal)       North Africa and Asia
   Canis mesomelas                     South and east Africa
   (Black-Backed Jackal)  
   Canis simensis (Simien Fox)         Northeast Africa
   Lycaon pictus (Hunting Dog)         Central and south central
                                       Africa
   Otocyon megalotis(Bat Ear Fox)      Northeast and southwest
                                       Africa    
   Vulpes chama (Cape Fox)             South Africa
   Vulpes pallida (Sand Fox)           Equatorial Africa
   Vulpes ruppelli (Ruppells Sand Fox) Northeast Africa
   Vulpes vulpes (Red Fox)             Europe and north Africa

   NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES (EIGHT SPECIES COMPLETE):

   SPECIES                           LOCATION

   Alopex lagopus (Arctic Fox)       Circumpolar in extreme north
   Canis latrans (Coyote)            Alaska to Mexico to New York
   Canis lupus (Gray Wolf)           Canada and Alaska and local
                                     in west United States
   Canis niger (Red Wolf)            East Texas to southern
                                     Illinois
   Erocyon cinereogenteus (Gray Fox) Much of North America and
                                     north Mexico
   Vulpes macrotis (Kit Fox)         Southwest United States and
                                     north Mexico
   Vulpes fulva (Red Fox)            Alaska, Canada, and most of
                                     United States
   Vulpes velox (Swift Fox)          Central Plains of North
                                     America

   MISCELLANEOUS OLD WORLD SPECIES (INCOMPLETE LIST OF EUROPE
   AND ASIA):  

   SPECIES                           LOCATION

   Alopex corsac (Korsak Fox)        Mongolia/Manchuria/Volga
   Canis aureus (Asiatic Jackal)     Asia and north Africa
   Canis dingo (Dingo)               Australia
   Canis hallstromi(Forest Dingo)    New Guinea
   Cuon alpinus(Asian Red Wolf)      Korea, India, Java, etc.
   Nycterautes procyonoides          Manchuria, China, Japan
   (Raccoon Dog)

   MISCELLANEOUS SOUTH AMERICAN SPECIES (INCOMPLETE LIST):

   SPECIES                           LOCATION

   Chrysocyon brachyurus(Maned Wolf) Southern Brazil, Argentina,
                                     etcetera
   Speothos venaticus (Bush Dog)     Panama to Brazil, Bolivia,
                                     Paraguay

Dogs and Foxes and Jackal (Family Canoidae) group contains thirty-five species found in  North American, Africa, South America, and Eurasia. The timberwolf is the best known wild member of this family. Familiar breeds of dogs make up the domesticated forms. To facilitate study of this interesting family, it has been arbitrarily broken it into two subfamilies as follows: Wild Dogs, Foxes, etc. of the world; and domesticated dogs. A third group, extinct Canoidae, has also been included.

Carnivores (Order Carnivora) are found naturally worldwide, except for Australia which has an introduced wild dog. Carnivores are characterized by their habits of feeding on other animals. They usually can run quickly and capture their food with the help of their claws and jaws. Typical carnivores are dogs, cats, and bears.

Mammals (Class Mammalia), together with the birds, are among the youngest of the classes of animals. In species count, mammals number about fifty-one hundred, trailing reptiles (approximately fifty-five hundred), fish (approximately eighteen thousand), and birds (approximately eighty-six hundred).

There are three sub-types of mammals:

   monotremes, the most primitive:
      Develop in reptilian-like eggs and suckle milk emerging
      (i.e., spiny anteater, duckbilled platypus)

   marsupials
      Newborn emerges very underdeveloped and continue to
      mature in a pouch on its mother's abdomen (i.e., opossums,
      koala, kangaroo)

   placental  
      Embryo develops within the uterus of the female and is
      dependent on a placenta for nutrition and waste removal
      (i.e., humans, lions, monkeys)  

About sixty-five million years ago, the Tertiary era produced thirty-five orders of mammals. Of this number, eighteen have survived to represent Earth's most diversified as well as its most highly developed classification of animals.

Extinction of mammals is fast becoming a serious issue. Duff and Lawson present a list of forty-one extinct species that reached extinction prior to 1800. These forty-one species are not acknowledged in the counts of the various families. Duff and Lawson also present a list of forty-six species including three gazelles, one zebra, one seal, one deer, and one wolf that have probably gone extinct since 1800. These forty-six species are included in the family counts. Science is adding about forty to fifty new species a year to the list. Many of these are the result of divisions of prior species; some are recent discoveries.

Mammals owe their survival to adaptive capabilities that include the ability to exploit whatever sources of food are available to them, as well as their ability to adjust to various climes. Food specialization influenced evolution to such a great extent that the teeth structure can and has been used to provide extensive information on the food needs and various lifestyles of extinct species.

Despite the vast diversity among mammals in terms of size, habitats and adaptations, they share without exception many characteristics such as:  

    a. body hair
    b. mammary glands
    c. certain skull characteristics
    d. four limbs that permit speed
    e. parallel not perpendicular limbs
    f. compartmentalized internal organs
    g. a four-chambered heart and pulmonary circulation

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.