Foxes' skulls are specially adapted for diving into snow

Red foxes and Arctic foxes dive headfirst into snow at up to 4 metres per second to catch small rodents, and the shape of their snouts reduces the impact force

By Chen Ly
29 April 2024



A red fox about to dive into the snow to catch prey
Maxime Riendeau/Getty Images

Some foxes can dive headfirst into snow without harm, and now we know how their skull shape is adapted for this technique.

In cold climates, where small rodents live deep under the snow, red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) have a specialised hunting technique known as mousing. They use their strong sense of hearing to pinpoint the location of prey, jump into the air and then dive face-first into large piles of snow at speeds of up to 4 metres per second to catch them by surprise.

“It’s a very interesting and unique behaviour,” says Sunghwan Jung at Cornell University in New York. “Not all foxes do it either.”

To learn more about why red and Arctic foxes are so adept at snow-diving, Jung and his colleagues scanned the skulls of 13 fox species as well as those of other mammals, such as lynx and pumas, from museum collections.

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Journal reference:
PNAS DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2321179121