Despite its name, the maned wolf is not a wolf. It isn't really a fox either. It belongs to its own special branch of the dog family, with no close cousins. Scientists think it has looked like this for millions of years.
Its long legs are a clever piece of design. The grasslands where it lives are full of tall grass, often taller than a person. By having long legs, the maned wolf can see over the top of the grass and spot mice, rabbits and other small prey moving below. Without those legs, it would be lost in the grass like everyone else.
Unlike wolves and dogs, maned wolves live alone. A pair only meets up at the start of a family and then mostly hunt on their own. They are quiet animals - they don't howl. Instead, they 'roar-bark', which is a very low sound used to talk across the grass to other maned wolves far away.
About half of what a maned wolf eats is actually fruit, not meat. They especially love a small tomato-like fruit called the 'wolf apple' that grows on bushes in the grasslands. They spread the seeds of that plant by walking around with full bellies.