The hedgehog family tree is ending 2023 by getting a few more branches. A study published December 21 in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society identified five new species of soft-furred hedgehogs native to Southeast Asia that were found with the help of some DNA analysis and some decades-old museum specimens.
[Related: Why Danish citizen scientists were on a quest to find the oldest European hedgehog.]
Fur instead of spines
Soft-furred hedgehogs–or gymnures–are tiny mammals that are members of the hedgehog family. Instead of being covered in spines like other hedgehogs, they have soft fur. Hedgehogs are not rodents and they have a pointy snout like their relatives. Previously, scientists believed that there were only two species, but this new study increased that number to seven.
These newly-identified species belong to a group of soft-furred hedgehogs called Hylomys that live in Southeast Asia. Two of the hedgehogs are entirely new species of soft-furred hedgehog. They are named Hylomys vorax and Hylomys macarong and both are endemic to an endangered and incredibly biodiverse tropical rainforest in North Sumatra and Southern Vietnam called the Leuser ecosystem.
H. macarong has dark brown fur and is about 5.5 inches long. It was named for a Vietnamese word for vampire–Ma cà rồng–since the males have fang-like incisors. Further field study is needed to figure out what these fangs do, but their larger size suggests that it could have a role in sexual selection. The males also have rust-colored chest markings that may have been stained by scent glands.
H. vorax is slightly smaller at 4.7 inches long and also has dark fur. It has a black tail and…
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