A car accident in 2021 uncovered an unprecedented biological discovery that should never have happened.

Challenging everything we know isn't something we see every day, which is why the discovery made in November 2021 in the Brazilian region of Vacaria is still remembered as an unprecedented event that has never been repeated.

It all began when what appeared to be a stray dog was run over. Being injured, it was taken to the vet for treatment. However, when they began to analyze the animal, the doctors discovered that it was not a dog (although it looked very similar) , but rather an animal that defied all classifications recorded in biology.

This is because Dogxim, as he was called, had strange morphological and behavioral characteristics, which forced him to be brought before a group of scientific experts to find out the truth. Although his body was like a fox's, his fur and behavior—he barked and played with toys—made him more of a canine.

Therefore, a group of Brazilian researchers decided to analyze the animal, discovering something that until then was thought to be impossible: Dogxim was a mix between a dog and a fox, a hybrid between both species, which had 76 chromosomes, a number intermediate between the 78 that domestic dogs have and the 74 of the foxes that inhabit those areas.

"Hybridization between such distant genera has never been documented in canids," explained Roland Kays, a researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, referring to this hybrid of two animals that diverged evolutionarily 6.7 million years ago.

To understand this phenomenon and how it occurred, it is essential to take into account the environmental context where this animal was found , and that is that this area of Brazil is one of the most degraded places in the country, where increasing urbanization and deforestation have caused wild and domestic animals to share space.

This is how a specimen like Dogxim emerged, unique in the world, although the truth is that this animal died in 2023 from unknown causes. Since then , no similar hybrid has been recorded, but thanks to this discovery, which proved it wasn't impossible, the possibility of another one existing isn't ruled out.

Of course, this discovery highlights how humans are impacting the planet and its beings , and although this specimen is something worthy of study, the truth is that there is a very negative side, especially from the point of view of the protection and preservation of native wild foxes.