Unusual dark hedgehog from eastern China is new to science – Canada Boosts

Scientists have recognized a brand new species of hedgehog: a darkish brown creature that dwells within the forests of jap China.

In 2018, Kai He at Guangzhou College, China, and his colleagues stumbled throughout some mysterious-looking hedgehogs within the provinces of Anhui and Zhejiang. In contrast with the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), these had darker brown fur and spines, in addition to barely bigger ears.

After analysing seven of the animals, together with their DNA samples, the researchers concluded that they belonged to a species that hadn’t been scientifically described earlier than, which they named Mesechinus orientalis.

The 4 different identified species within the Mesechinus genus primarily stay in northern China, Mongolia and Russia, whereas the species M. hughi resides in south-west China.

“It’s quite interesting that this forest hedgehog was found over 1000 kilometres away from its known distribution,” says He.

Weighing just below 340 grams and measuring 18.8 centimetres lengthy, on common, M. orientalis is barely smaller than the opposite identified hedgehogs in its genus.

Like different hedgehogs, M. orientalis is a nocturnal species that tends to feed on bugs and fruit. It additionally hibernates throughout winter.

To date, the crew has solely discovered M. orientalis in two Chinese language provinces. Based mostly on the numbers recorded thus far, although, it isn’t regarded as endangered, says He, who estimates there are in all probability a number of hundred people in these provinces.

There have been solely 17 identified species of hedgehogs globally, “so we were pretty happy that we increased that by one”, he says.

“For a genuine hedgehog nerd like myself, this is astonishing news,” says Sophie Lund Rasmussen on the College of Oxford. “I look forward to learning more about the species’ ecology and whether this also differs compared to the other species of hedgehogs in the country.”