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Erinaceus
Sign in to saveErinaceus is a genus of hedgehog from the family of Erinaceidae. There are four main species of Erinaceus. The range is all across Europe, throughout the Middle East, parts of Russia, and extending to northern China and Korea. The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) has been introduced to New Zealand.
OverviewAI-generated
Erinaceus is a genus of mammals within the family Erinaceidae and the order Erinaceomorpha. It belongs to the class Mammalia and the phylum Chordata. The taxon was described by Linnaeus in 1758 and holds an accepted status. It serves as the nomenclatural type for the family Erinaceidae and is associated with the Western European hedgehog.
Records for this genus have been documented in Israel, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Ukraine, and Tanzania. Specimens are held by institutions including NHMUK, LACM, CUP, FMNH, and TTU. The genus is referenced by 585 other encyclopedia articles.
Synthesized by Vinony from 22 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Encyclopedia of Life, iDigBio, WoRMS, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Species
Genus
- PhylumChordata
- ClassMammalia
- OrderErinaceomorpha
- FamilyErinaceidae
蝟屬（学名：Erinaceus）为猬形目猬科的一屬。
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Museum specimens
- Specimen records
- 121
- With media
- 18
- Family
- Erinaceidae
- Collections
- NHMUK, LACM, CUP, FMNH, TTU, UWSP
- Recorded in
- Israel, United Kingdom, Turkey, Ukraine, Tanzania, United States, Sudan, Syria
Wikidata facts
Show 6 more facts
- taxon rank
- genus
- taxon name
- Erinaceus
- Commons category
- Erinaceus
- topic's main category
- Category:Erinaceus
- taxonomic type
- Western European hedgehog
- nomenclatural type of
- Erinaceidae
Sources (2)
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Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Description
- Behavior
- Reproduction and lifespan
- Diet
- Species
- References
Erinaceus is a genus of hedgehog from the family of Erinaceidae. There are four main species of Erinaceus. The range is all across Europe, throughout the Middle East, parts of Russia, and extending to northern China and Korea. The European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) has been introduced to New Zealand.
==Description== As is characteristic of other hedgehogs, members of Erinaceus have spines. These spines are a modification of the hair that is formed and strengthened by keratin. They contain hollow air filled gaps separated by thin inner layers of the spine to lessen the weight load. Every spine is tapered at the end to form a point and also at the base where it then forms a bulb that is attached to the skin. The tapering at the base allows the spine to have a section that will bend under stress and dampen forces placed on the spines. Each of the spines has a dermal muscle that erects the spine for defense. The size of Erinaceus is 20–30 cm with a weight of 400–1200 g.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Erinaceus” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.