Rat hedgehog

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Rat hedgehog
Preparation of a large rat hedgehog in the Koenig Museum.

Preparation of a large rat hedgehog in the Koenig Museum .

Systematics
Class : Mammals (mammalia)
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate : Laurasiatheria
Order : Insect eater (Eulipotyphla)
Family : Hedgehog (Erinaceidae)
Subfamily : Rat hedgehog
Scientific name
Galericinae
Pomel , 1848

The rat hedgehog or hairy hedgehog (Galericinae or Hylomyinae) are a subfamily of the hedgehogs (Erinaceidae). The eight species in this group live in East and Southeast Asia .

description

Rat hedgehogs are more like rodents or large shrews than the hedgehogs (Erinaceinae), the second subfamily of hedgehogs. They have no spines and are usually covered with a soft, gray-brown or black fur. The muzzle is relatively long, eyes and ears are well developed.

Way of life

Rat hedgehogs live in densely overgrown forests or swamps, but sometimes also appear in fields and plantations. They can be active both during the day and at night and retire to rest in hollow tree trunks, under tree roots or in abandoned animal burrows. The animals live mainly solitary. They defend themselves against predators with the stinking secretion of their scent glands.

With their long snouts, they look for food in dense bushes or rotten plant material. This consists primarily of insects and earthworms . Occasionally they also ingest small vertebrates, carrion, and fruit.

Reproduction

Little is known about the reproduction of these animals. The rat hedgehogs are unlikely to know a seasonal mating season and give birth to offspring up to twice a year. After a gestation period of 30 to 40 days, the female gives birth to two to four young. The highest known age of a rat hedgehog in captivity was just under five years.

threat

The main threat to the rat hedgehog is the loss of their habitat through forest clearing and conversion to plantations and settlement areas. Four of the eight species are listed as threatened or critically endangered by the IUCN .

Genera and species

  • The great rat hedgehog ( Echinosorex gymnurus ) lives in swamps and forests on the Malay Peninsula as well as on Sumatra and Borneo . It also looks for food in rivers and is believed to eat crustaceans, frogs and fish. With a total length of up to 75 centimeters and a weight of up to two kilograms, it is the largest living hedgehog. Its fur is black, the face and shoulders are colored white.
  • The shrew urchin ( Neotetracus sinensis ) is the smallest hedgehog with a head body length of 10 to 11 centimeters and a tail length of four to six centimeters. It lives in higher forests in southern China, Myanmar and northern Vietnam .
  • The Hainan rat hedgehog ( Neohylomys hainanensis ) lives exclusively on the island of Hainan off the Chinese coast. It is similar to the small rat hedgehog, but grows slightly larger and has a significantly longer tail.
  • Representatives of the genus small rat hedgehogs ( Hylomys ) are characterized by a rust-brown fur and a short tail. Their distribution area extends from Myanmar and southern China ( Yunnan ) to Java and Borneo. There are three known types:
  • The genus Philippines rat hedgehog ( Podogymnura ) is characterized by rough, almost spiky hair. Their representatives live in the southern Philippines. Two types are known:

Extinct rat hedgehogs, including those of the genus Deinogalerix , are also known from Europe. If the genus Galerix belongs to the subfamily of the rat hedgehog (Galericinae), this also applies to this.

literature

  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World. 2 volumes. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD u. a. 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
  • Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .

Web links

Notes and evidence

  1. ↑ † Galerix Pomel 1848 (hedgehog) . In: Fossilworks.org . John Alroy , accessed and received on February 22, 2017.
    Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende: A revised generic classification of the Galericini (Insectivora, Mammalia) with some remarks on their palaeobiogeography and phylogeny . In: Geobios . Volume 34, No. 6, 2001, DOI: 10.1016 / S0016-6995 (01) 80029-2 , ISSN  0016-6995 , pp. 681–695, accessed and received on February 22, 2017 ( summary in English and French ) .
  2. ↑ For the scientific discussion of the taxonomic classification of the genus Galerix , see: Gina C. Gould: Hedgehog Phylogeny (Mammalia, Erinaceidae) —the Reciprocal Illumination of the Quick and the Dead . In: American Museum novitates . No. 3131, May 24, 1995, ISSN  0003-0082 , pp. 1-45 (English; PDF file, 11.06 MiB; entry in the American Museum of Natural History Library DSpace Digital Repository ).