The bat-eared fox is found in Southern and East Africa, though the two subspecies are separated by an unpopulated region spanning approximately 1,000 km (620 mi).

In its range, the bat-eared fox digs dens for shelter and to raise its young, and lives in social groups or pairs that hunt and groom together.

The bat-eared fox's generic name Otocyon is derived from the Greek words otus (οὖς) for ear and cyon (κύων) for dog, while the specific name megalotis comes from the Greek words megas (μέγας) for large and otus (οὖς) for ear.

[1] Its scientific name, given by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest, was initially Canis megalotis (due to its close resemblance to jackals), and later changed by Salomon Müller which placed it in its own genus, Otocyon; its large ears and different dental formula warrant inclusion in a genus distinct from both Canis and true foxes (Vulpes).

[11][12] In the Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, fossils of the related extinct fox species first considered Otocyon recki have been found that date back to the late Pliocene or early Pleistocene.

[4] Individuals of the East African subspecies, O. m. virgatus, tend toward a buff pelage with dark brown markings, as opposed to the black of O. m. megalotis.

The proportionally large ears of bat-eared foxes, a characteristic shared by many other inhabitants of hot, arid climates, such as the desert cottontail,[18] help to distribute heat.

[16] The teeth of the bat-eared fox are much smaller those of other canid species,[17] excepting the bush dog (Spetothos venaticus) and dhole (Cuon alpinus).

[4] The bat-eared fox has a disjunct distribution across the arid and semi-arid regions of Eastern and Southern Africa, in two allopatric populations (representing each of the recognized subspecies) separated by approximately 1,000 km (620 mi).

Subspecies O. m. virgatus extends from southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia, through Uganda and Kenya to southwestern Tanzania; O. m. megalotis occurs in the southern part of Africa, ranging from Angola through Namibia and Botswana to South Africa, and extends as far east as Mozambique and Zimbabwe,[3] spreading into the Cape Peninsula and toward Cape Agulhas.

virgatus) may live in pairs, or in stable family groups consisting of a male and up to three closely related females with pups.

When they are looking intently at something, the head is held high, eyes are open, ears are erect and facing forward, and the mouth is closed.

When an individual is asserting dominance or aggression, feeling threatened, playing, or being sexually aroused, the tail is arched in an inverted U shape.

Glandular secretions and scratching, other than for digging, are absent in communication,[4] although they appear to establish pair bonds by scent marking.

[25] The bat-eared fox is the only truly insectivorous canid,[26] with a marked preference for harvester termites (Hodotermes mossambicus),[27] which can constitute 80–90% of its diet.

[4] When this particular species of termite is not available, their opportunistic diet allows a wide variety of food items to be taken:[27] they can consume other species of termites, other arthropods such as ants, beetles (especially scarab beetles),[25] crickets, grasshoppers, millipedes, moths, scorpions, spiders, and rarely birds, birds' eggs and chicks,[25] small mammals, reptiles, and fungi (the desert truffle Kalaharituber pfeilii[28]).

Foraging techniques depend on prey type, but food is often located by walking slowly, nose close to the ground and ears tilted forward.

Groups are able to forage on clumps of prey in patches because they do not fight each other for food due to their degree of sociality and lack of territoriality.

[22] As the bat-eared fox's range overlaps with that of the aardvark, it will take advantage of termite mounds opened up by the latter animal, as will aardwolves.

Beyond lactation, which lasts 14 to 15 weeks,[4] males take over grooming, defending, huddling, chaperoning, and carrying the young between den sites.

Black-backed jackals pose the greatest threat to young bat-eared foxes, but in breeding areas, adults will engage in mobbing behavior to drive them off.

[4] Otocyon megalotis is considered to be a least-concern species by both the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the South African National Biodiversity Institute.