The remains of a fox entering a human burial ground Argentina dating back 1,500 years has raised the possibility that the animal was kept as a pet, research suggests.
Experts say the remains predate the arrival of domestic dogs in Patagonia, which occurred around 700–900 years ago, with a number of clues suggesting that the fox was considered valuable, and may even have been a companion for the hunter- collectors with whom it lived. .
“Either it was a symbolic animal for the community, or it was buried when it died with its owners, or with the people with whom it had a specific relationship,” said Ophélie Lebrasseur of the University of Oxford, who, together with Cinthia Abbona of the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research in Argentina, is co-first author of the paper.
Write in the journal Royal Society Open Sciencethe researchers reported how they reanalyzed material recovered from a 1991 dig at the pre-Hispanic cemetery of Cañada Seca, Argentina, which was inhabited by hunter-gatherer communities.
As well as human remains, the dig revealed an almost complete set of bones belonging to a dog-like animal.
Although originally identified as a fox of a species of Lycalopex, the team says analyzes and genetic investigations have revealed that the remains belong to Dusicyon Avus. It is a type of fox that was about the size of a German shepherd and became extinct about 500 years ago. It was not previously known to roam northwestern Patagonia.
The original digging took place to prevent looting and disturbance after the site was accidentally discovered, making it difficult to know if the animal was buried at the same time as the humans.
However, Lebrasseur said there was no sign that the fox had been eaten, while the state of preservation of the bones suggested that the animal’s body had been deliberately buried, rather than left in the open.
Radiocarbon dating by the team suggested that the fox lived around 1,500 years ago, making it a contemporary of the humans at the site. “That would suggest it [the fox has] was placed there as with the other human remains,” Lebrasseur said.
The team also performed stable isotope analyzes of the bones, a technique that allowed them to examine the fox’s diet.
While such animals would normally be carnivorous, the team found that the fox had a diet similar to that of the people buried at the site, even consuming plants, possibly corn. Lebrasseur said, “Either the people fed it directly or it fed the garbage, but it would have been in close proximity to this site.”
Lebrasseur said the findings were consistent with an earlier report from a cemetery in Buenos Aires province, where the remains of a fox of the same species were discovered next to burials associated with a hunter-gatherer society, dating from the late second millennium BC. The author of that report suggested that the fox may have been kept as a pet and considered part of the human social group.
Dr Alejandro Serna, an expert in Patagonian hunter-gatherers from the University of York, who was not involved in the research, said the new study provides fresh insights into the depth and diversity of human-animal interactions.
“Considering that there are cases supported by substantial evidence that suggest that precolonial dogs may have enjoyed special status among the hunter-gatherers who lived in present-day Argentine territory, it makes sense that similar species at earlier moments able to establish this particular relationship with Patagonians,” he said.
