Researchers at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History have performed a comprehensive taxonomic review of the soft-furred hedgehog genus Hylomys, using molecular and morphological data from museum specimens across its distribution, resulting in the description of two new species and the elevation of three subspecies to full species status. This revision significantly increases the known diversity of this genus from two to seven living species, challenging the traditional view of species-level diversity within soft-furred hedgehogs.
Soft-furred hedgehogs (gymnures) are small mammals that are members of the hedgehog family, but as their common name suggests they are furry rather than spiny. Like spiny hedgehogs, they are not rodents and they have a pointy snout.
These small mammals are active during the day and night and are omnivorous, likely eating a diversity of insects and other invertebrates as well as some fruits as opportunities present themselves.
Based on the lifestyles of their close relatives and field observations, these hedgehogs likely nest in hollows and take cover while foraging among tree roots, fallen logs, rocks, grassy areas, undergrowth and leaf litter.
“Without the spines of their more well-known cousins, soft-furred hedgehogs superficially look a bit like a mixture of a mouse and a shrew with a short tail,” said Dr. Arlo Hinckley, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History and University of Seville.
“The five new species belong to a group of soft-furred hedgehogs called lesser gymnures (Hylomys) that live in Southeast Asia and previously was only recognized to have been represented by two known species.”
“We were only able to identify these new hedgehogs thanks to museum staff that curated these specimens across countless decades and their original field collectors.”
“By applying modern genomic techniques like we did many years after these hedgehogs were first collected, the next…
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