What kind of fox is Lingna Belle? Could it be... a Tibetan fox?

If you were to ask who is the most popular idol this year, it would probably be a pink fox - Lingna Belle.

In September this year, Shanghai Disneyland launched Lingna Belle. As soon as she appeared, she immediately became the darling of the crowd. Her fans even gave her a nickname - "Chuansha Daji" (Shanghai Disneyland is located in Chuansha Town, Pudong District), and Lingna Belle has been on the hot search list all the time!

Suddenly, I had several more Lingna Belle friends on WeChat...

What kind of fox is Lingna Belle?

But as an editor of "Bowu", my first reaction when I saw Lingna Belle was: What on earth is this pink thing?

Disney's official website says: Lingna Belle, female, is a fox and a new friend of Duffy the bear. She does look like a fox, but what kind is she?

The foxes we often talk about belong to the Canidae family. Although there are more than 20 species, it is not difficult to rule them out. Lingna Belle has regular facial features, a pink body, a white belly, and a thick tail with a white tip.

Most foxes have gray fur and don’t look “girly” at all, so they can be passed over. In addition, some foxes with strange looks, such as the Tibetan fox, have a big face and small eyes, which is not suitable at first glance…

There are also [耳郭] fox (this is the correct way to write it, not wrong), bat-eared fox, etc. They have huge ears and their image does not match Lingna Belle.

The pictures above are the [eared] fox and the bat-eared fox.

Image source: animals.sandiegozoo.org, wiki

Excluding these, the only thing left is the red fox, which is somewhat similar to it in appearance. Red foxes are found throughout North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. They can be said to be the most common foxes, so it makes sense to use it as a prototype.

But red foxes have a variety of body colors, and there are three main types of wild populations. Let's look at which type of red fox Lingna Belle is based on her body color.

The most common red fox has a body color just as the name describes, with most of its body being reddish-brown, with only its chest, abdomen and the tip of its tail being white, while the back of its ears, the outside of its limbs and the soles of its feet are black.

The most common red fox, most of which are reddish brown in color

Image credit: james warwick

The second type is often called the silver fox. Its chest and abdomen are black, and the tip of its tail is white. The rest of its hair is a bit special, with white in the middle and black at both ends. It looks silvery from a distance, so it is called the silver fox. Wild silver foxes are relatively common in northern North America, but most of the ones raised in farms now are of this color.

People often release silver foxes into the wild in the mountainous areas of Beijing, and some people who don’t know the truth think that wild foxes are rampant. In fact, the survival ability of the individuals in these farms is very weak in the wild, and releasing them is equivalent to letting them die.

Gray silver fox

Image source: boredpanda.com

In addition, there is a type called cross fox. Their body color is similar to that of red fox, but there is a black cross stripe on the back, and the face, chest, abdomen, limbs and tail are all black.

At first glance, the ugly cross fox

Image source: jungledragon.com

Although farmed foxes have emerged in more than a hundred body colors due to continuous hybridization and breeding, ranging from white to gray to brown to black, covering a wide range of colors, the only thing is... there is no pink.

In terms of appearance and body color, in general, the reddish-brown red fox is most similar to Lingna Belle. If you insist that the Tibetan fox is similar, it is possible from certain angles. (There is a surprise at the end of the article)

Four fingers go in all directions

Now that we have found the prototype, let’s take a look at the various parts of Lingna Belle’s body. Let’s talk about the claws first.

In addition to Chuansha Daji, Lingna Belle also has a nickname called "Er'er". It is said that this is because when fans saw its doll, they asked what to call it appropriately. It counted on its fingers and said, "Just call me Lingna Belle."

"Lingna Belle, do you know how to do it?" "No"

Image source: Happy little 2B/@玲娜贝儿bot

Hey, there is one word for each finger, and it only has four fingers! The design of four fingers is related to Disney. It is said that if an animated character has five fingers like humans, but this character is not the same as us, it often makes people feel resistant or even fearful.

Moreover, when drawing, if the artist draws five slender fingers like humans, it will not match the cute image in the animation, but if it is drawn as five fat fingers, it will look too bloated, and if it is drawn as three fingers, it will be too casual. Drawing four fingers is just right. This is the case with Disney's big IP Mickey Mouse.

In addition, the production technology of early cartoons was not as good as it is now. If one less finger could be drawn, it would save time and effort, and also save a lot of costs. As a member of Disney, Lingna Belle naturally continued this practice.

Later, fans were not satisfied and gave it other names such as "Lingling", "Nana", "Beibei" and "Er'er" for it to choose. Unexpectedly, it disliked the last one the most, so the fans decided on the spot that it would be called "Er'er".

Why is the tip of the tail white?

In addition to her fingers, Lingna Belle's big tail is also very cute.

This big elastic tail

Although members of the family are found in many parts of the world, most red foxes have a common feature - a white tail tip. This feature can be seen in young foxes, even before they are born (at 46 days of gestation). However, the white tail tip of a red fox can be long or short, and the color is not always white, but can also be gray or even black.

The tip of a red fox's tail

Image credit: Maggie Bruce

So the question is, why does the fox's tail have a white tip?

Earlier, some people believed that the white tip of the tail could be used to determine the sex of a red fox, but this is obviously unreliable, because both males and females can have this feature.

Others have found that in dim light, when red foxes line up through dense vegetation, the individuals behind seem to focus intently on the white tail tip of the individual in front, which can be seen even by people with poor night vision, suggesting that the white tail tip may help teammates see themselves more clearly.

It can also prevent babies from getting lost (bushi)

Image source see watermark

The upside-down onion hunting method

The red fox is small and cute, and its behavior is even more interesting. It is an omnivore, and usually feeds mainly on rodents and small birds, and sometimes eats berries to fill its stomach. Although it does not hunt in groups like its canine relatives such as gray wolves and wild dogs, the solitary red fox also has a set of hunting skills - the upside-down onion hunting method.

In winter, the ground is covered with thick snow, and rodents such as voles run around under the snow, looking for plant roots to eat. Although the red fox walking on the snow cannot see them, it can still detect the faint sounds of prey with its super hearing. After locking onto the prey, the red fox will leap headfirst into the snow and catch the prey. Scientists call this behavior "mousing."

I prick, I prick, I prick, prick, prick, prick

However, in 2011, scientists made a new discovery. They observed 84 red foxes mousing about 600 times and noticed an interesting phenomenon: red foxes often mouse northeastward when hunting, at an angle of 20° to the geomagnetic north pole. When mousing northeastward, the hunting success rate is 73%, and in the opposite direction it is 60%. But if the red fox mouses in other directions instead of at an angle of 20° to the geomagnetic north pole, the hunting success rate is only 18%.

Scientists finally came up with the hypothesis that red foxes use the geomagnetic direction to determine the distance from their prey and thus hunt accurately.

duang~duang~

Finally, I know what emoticon you are waiting for, take it and you’re welcome.

Written by He Changhuan

Some pictures | From the Internet

WeChat Editor | Ah She Shuang

Source: Museum