The Bat-eared Fox has a disjunct distribution range, occurring across the arid and semi-arid regions of eastern and southern Africa in two discrete populations (representing each of the known subspecies) separated by about 1,000 km. Subspecies O. m. virgatus ranges from southern Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia down through Uganda and Kenya to south-western Tanzania; O. m. megalotis occurs from Angola through Namibia and Botswana to Mozambique and South Africa. There are no confirmed records from Zambia (Ansell 1978). The two ranges were probably connected during the Pleistocene. This disjunct distribution is similar to that of other endemic, xeric species e.g., Aardwolf Proteles cristatus and Black-backed Jackal Canis mesomelas. Range extensions in southern Africa documented in recent years have been linked to changing rainfall patterns.