To which order does the hedgehog belong? Hedgehog - description, species, where he lives, what he eats, reproduction, photo

Systematics of the Hedgehog family, or Hedgehogs:
Genus: Echinosorex Blainville, 1838 = Gymnury
Genus: Erinaceus Linnaeus, 1758 = (Ordinary) hedgehogs
Genus: Hemiechinus Fitzinger, 1866 = Eared hedgehogs
Genus: Hylomys Müller, 1839 = Small rat hedgehogs, small gymnurs
Genus: Neohylomys Shaw et Wong, 1959 = Hainan hedgehogs
Genus: Neotetracus Trouessart, 1909 = Shrew hedgehogs
Genus: Podogymnura Mearns, 1905 = Philippine gymnurs

This family combines less than a dozen species that look like an ordinary hedgehog. Their body is covered with hard needles from above and from the sides. The auricles and eyes are relatively well developed. The structure of the skull is characterized by a strong development of the zygomatic arches, widely spaced to the sides. Any hedgehog has 36 teeth. Under the skin, covered from above and from the sides with a spiny shell, there are almost a continuous layer of longitudinal and annular muscles, with the contraction of which the hedgehog curls up, taking the form of a prickly ball. Four species of hedgehogs distributed in Europe and Asia belong to the same genus Erinaceus.

hedgehog(Erinaceus europae-us) is a well-known animal in appearance. The length of its body is about 20-30 cm, the tail is about 3 cm. The average weight is about 700-800 g. The ears are relatively small (usually less than 3.5 cm). The needles are short (no more than 3 cm). The head and belly are covered with coarse and usually dark-colored hair.

The range of the common hedgehog consists of two parts. Its western part occupies Europe, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Western Siberia east to Tomsk. The eastern part of the range from the steppes of Southern Transbaikalia goes to the Ussuri floodplain, the shores of the Japan and Yellow Seas to the north to the basins of the Shilka and Bureya rivers, and to the south to the right bank of the Yangtze. He lives in the forest-meadow and steppe zones. It enters taiga and semi-desert zones only along the valleys of large rivers and their large tributaries. Especially willingly settles in copses, on the edges of forests, along forested ravines, in thickets of bushes, in sheltered forest belts, etc.

In summer, the hedgehog does not build any shelters. For the time of rest, it hides in any secluded places: in a thicket of thorny bushes, in a basal half-hollow, in the void of a fallen trunk, in a shallow hole dug by itself or by another animal. Curled up into a loose ball, the hedgehog sleeps on scanty leaf litter, on wood dust, or simply on bare ground. In places where winter is hungry and long, hedgehogs, apparently, arrange deep (wintering) holes. There was no nest lining in the wintering burrows of Daurian hedgehogs (in Transbaikalia). We refer to the burrows of Dahurian hedgehogs because not a single wintering burrow of the common hedgehog has yet been found or described in the vicinity of Moscow, Leningrad and other large cities.

Unlike other representatives of the order, hedgehogs in a temperate and cold climate fall into a long deep hibernation for the winter. Before occurrence, they accumulate fat reserves; no food is stored for the winter. In the middle of winter, hedgehogs do not feed. They wake up early in spring, when the snow has not completely melted in the forests. During hibernation, they lose a lot of weight. The hedgehog's body after hibernation becomes narrow, flattened laterally. The bottom of the spinous cover on the sides seems to be hanging. In this state, the hedgehog is insatiable. Finding food becomes his main concern. The dark time of the day is not enough for him to saturate. Therefore, in spring, hedgehogs are active during the daytime. Running in different directions in search of food, the hedgehog rustles with dry last year's foliage, and by this noise it is easy to detect it in the forest.

Shortly after leaving the winter shelters, hedgehogs begin mating season (rut). The gestation period of hedgehogs (according to S.I. Ognev) is 49 days. There is one offspring per year, usually from 5 (from 3 to 6, less often up to 7 or even 8) cubs. Hedgehogs are born blind, naked, with bright pink skin, but within a few hours after birth, white and dark (at first soft) needles appear. The eyes open on the 16th day. Even a blind hedgehog can curl up into a ball. Hedgehogs feed on mother's milk for about one month.

Studies of the nutrition of the common hedgehog show that its leading place in the diet is occupied by the larvae of centipede mosquitoes (Novgorod region), beetles (Tatar and Chuvash ASSR), ground beetles and dung beetles (Stavropol Territory).

In captivity, a hedgehog can eat a viper. But in nature, such phenomena were not observed, although the hedgehog is characterized by an amazing resistance to viper venom.

As early as 1811, P.S. Pallas experimentally established that hedgehogs ate blisters (for example, shpanok) containing catharidine, which is highly toxic to other animals, without harm to themselves. IV Zharkov and VA Popov (1934) found Spanish flies in the stomachs of hedgehogs caught in nature. Poisons such as arsenic, sublimate, opium, and even hydrocyanic acid also have a weak effect on hedgehogs.

Mice, which sometimes include not so much real mice as less nimble voles, hedgehogs are rarely caught in nature and in small numbers. Among the insects eaten by the hedgehog, some harmful ones were noted (for example, May beetles, hairy ground beetles that harm the seedlings of conifers and cereals, caterpillars of the nun and gypsy moth).

Usually hedgehogs feast on eggs or chicks of any small birds nesting on the ground. In the parks of Askania-Nova, hedgehogs completely destroyed the eggs laid by female pheasants.

In connection with a detailed study of ixodid ticks (long-term keepers and carriers of pathogens that are dangerous to humans and domestic animals - tick-borne encephalitis, tularemia, babesiellosis in cattle, piroplasmosis in horses), it was found that hedgehogs were among the few and most important hosts of ticks , even universal hosts on which ticks feed in all phases of development (larvae, nymphs and adults).

In forest lands, hedgehogs collect more ticks, including encephalitis, than any other animals. With a spiny shell, the hedgehog, like a brush, combs the hungry ticks that have climbed onto the forest grasses. The spiny cover, which reliably protects the hedgehog from predators, just as reliably protects ticks from the hedgehog itself. The hedgehog cannot get rid of the ticks stuck between the needles. During the spring season, each hedgehog feeds tens of thousands of ixodid ticks.

eared hedgehog(E. auritus) differs from an ordinary hedgehog in the large size of the auricle: its ear length is more than 3-5 cm. The spiny shell is smaller, so that the lower parts of the sides of the body are also covered with soft fur. The length of the needle is not more than 3 cm. The weight of males from the Stavropol Territory is from 200 to 430 g, and females - from 200 to 505 g, which is 3 times less than that of ordinary hedgehogs from the same places

The eared hedgehog is widespread in the southern steppes, semi-deserts and deserts of Europe, Western Siberia, Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia, Central and Central Asia.

In terms of shelters, annual cycle, daily activity, it looks like an ordinary hedgehog.

The main food of the eared hedgehog is insects, especially beetles (runners, darklings, lingers, beetles, etc.) and ants. Only in isolated cases in the stomach of a hedgehog are found the remains of a toad, a lizard and feathers of a small bird.

In search of food (in summer), the eared hedgehog usually comes out late in the evening. He runs much faster than an ordinary hedgehog. If you catch up with an eared hedgehog and touch it with a foot or a stick, then it reluctantly curls up into a ball, usually only bends its head down, hisses and jumps, trying to inflict injections with its needles, and soon tries to run away.

On steppe and semi-desert pastures, eared hedgehogs feed a large number of ixodid ticks with their blood, for example, Dermacentor marginatus, a carrier of piroplasmosis in domestic animals.

The resistance of eared hedgehogs to strong poisons and overheating is amazing. Hedgehogs are more resistant to high temperatures than such "tenacious" animals as the land tortoise.

Animal life: in 6 volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. Edited by professors N.A. Gladkov, A.V. Mikheev. 1970 .

See what the "Hedgehog family (Erinaceidae)" is in other dictionaries:

- (Erinaceidae) * * One of the oldest families of insectivores, and indeed mammals. Currently includes 58 genera and about 20 species. Hedgehogs are such characteristic animals that it’s quite enough to fully familiarize yourself with them ... ... Animal life

These animals appeared on our planet more than 15 million years ago. They are not only found in forests. Certain species of hedgehogs can even live in deserts. The famous cartoon "Hedgehog in the Fog" has been seen by many. Apparently, the main character belongs to the common hedgehog species. It is familiar to the eyes of the inhabitants of Russia. If the authors of the tape had drawn a hymnal, then most would hardly have guessed that it was a hedgehog.

Hedgehogs

A small mammal with an elongated, pointed, movable muzzle is a general description of a hedgehog. The species is distinguished by a variety of appearance and habitat. These animals include tenrecs and gymnurs, which do not have the usual needles. Moles and shrews are the closest "relatives" of hedgehogs. But porcupines, despite the similarity of protection, needles, do not belong to their "relatives".

General signs characteristic of all representatives of hedgehogs:

• body length - from 10 to 45 cm;
• live weight - from 300 to 1500 grams;
• tail length from 1 to 21 cm;
• large wedge-shaped head;
• zygomatic arches developed, widely set;
• the shape of the skull can be narrow and elongated or short and wide;
• eyes and auricles are well developed;
• the number of nipples - from 2 to 5 pieces;
• sweat glands are absent, there are small sebaceous, anal and specific plantar;
• the teeth are sharp, small, the first incisors resemble fangs, usually there are 16 teeth on the lower jaw, 20 on the upper jaw, some species have a total of 44 teeth;
• forelegs shorter than hind;
• of the five available fingers on the hind legs (only the white-bellied hedgehog has four), the middle ones are the longest, adapted for cleaning needles;
• sparse thin hairs grow between the needles;
• coat color varies from sandy-white to black-brown depending on the species;
• in case of danger, they are able to curl up into a ball;
• most have well-developed subcutaneous muscles;
• have excellent hearing and smell, poor eyesight;
• most species can swim;
• even when fleeing from danger, the speed of movement does not exceed 4 km / h;
• average life expectancy in the wild - within 5 years, as a pet can live up to 10;
• main enemies: wolves, badgers, hyenas, martens, foxes, mongooses, honey badgers, eagles, owls, ferrets, jackals and other predators.

Needles

Almost all types of hedgehogs are covered with spines. This is their kind of calling card. Needles are modified hair. Such a rebirth is especially noticeable on the sides of the body. In this place, very thin needles and strong bristly hair are clearly visible.

The number of needles in adults can reach 10,000. Their length does not exceed 3 cm. The needles themselves are very light and durable. They consist of many small air chambers separated by plates. On the skin, a thin, flexible neck emerges from the formation in the form of a ball. It gradually expands towards the base of the needle and narrows again towards its tip. This design guarantees the safety of the animal's body in the event of a fall from a height or any external pressure on the needles. The movable thin part is bent, excluding the possibility of penetration of the needle into the body. Their coloration is quite peculiar: the tip and base are white, the middle is black or brown.

Each needle has its own muscle that can bring it into a vertical position. At rest, the muscles are relaxed, and the needle cover looks slightly smoothed. In case of danger, the hedgehog first raises its needles, waiting for the danger to pass. In this state, the needles stick out with sharp tips in different directions, creating a solid prickly armor. If the threat increases, the animal curls up into a solid ball of needles.

Classification

Animals belong to the family of hedgehogs from the order of insectivores. There are several types of hedgehogs (photos and descriptions of some are given in the article below). The family itself includes 24 species, 10 genera and 2 subfamilies:

1. Real hedgehogs. Represented by four genera:

1) African include four species:

• Algerian;
• white-bellied;
• Somali;
• South African.

2) steppe include two types:

• Dahurian;
• Chinese;

3) Eurasian include three types:

• Amur;
• Eastern European;
• ordinary (European);

4) eared include six species:

• apodal;
• Indian;
• collar;
• dark needle;
• Ethiopian
• eared.

2. Gymnury, or rat hedgehogs. These include five genera now living and six more already extinct. It is hard to say how many species of hedgehogs mankind will not count in the future, but such a species as hymnuras is already listed in the International Red Book. The living genera of rat hedgehogs include:

• hymnures;
• small hymnures;
• Hainan hedgehogs;
• shrew hedgehogs;
• Philippine hymns.

Lifestyle

The hedgehog is a species of animal that lives in all countries of Europe, it is also found in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and New Zealand. Scientists tend to believe that not so long ago they lived in North America. Never seen these animals in South America, Antarctica, Australia and Madagascar. On the territory of Russia, you can find an ordinary, dark-skinned, Dahurian and eared hedgehog.

In nature, animals prefer to settle under roots, in rock crevices, in bushes, burrows abandoned by rodents or dug on their own. These burrows can be up to one meter long. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, solitary. They sleep during the day, hunt at night. They don't go far from home.

All types of hedgehogs are predators. Their diet includes:

• caterpillars;
• beetles;
• ground beetles;
• earthworms;
• snakes, including poisonous ones;
• frogs;
• mice;
• woodlice;
• spiders;
• plant foods: acorns, cereals, wild berries, mushrooms, moss;
• locust;
• scorpions;
• slugs
• lizards;
• bird eggs.

May be tempted by carrion and food waste. Between April and October, the hedgehog must gain enough fat to successfully survive hibernation.

Sexual maturity occurs by the end of the first year of life (in some species - by two years). After awakening, the male goes to look for a mate. The mating season is possible when the air warms up to +18 ° С. Fights over females are quite fierce, but they do not end in injuries. After pushing with shells and biting in the legs and face, the weakest gives way, leaving the battlefield. After mating, the male leaves the "girlfriend".

In the northern regions, cubs are born once a year, the southern populations can bring offspring twice during the year. The duration of pregnancy is 34-60 days. There are from 3 to 8 babies in one litter. Weight at birth - only 10-12 grams, they are naked, blind, bright pink. 6 hours after birth, they have the first soft needles. After two weeks, the "prickly" cover is completely formed. For the first month, hedgehogs feed only on mother's milk; closer to autumn, they begin an independent life.

hedgehog

This species is one of the most widespread in the world. The animal is a typical inhabitant of the plains, parks and woodlands. Avoids damp and wetlands. Often found near human habitation, a frequent visitor to summer cottages. It feeds on everything it can get. The main criteria for the type of hedgehog are:

• body length - 20-30 cm;
• tail length - up to 3 cm;
• live weight - up to 800 grams;
• color - from yellowish to dark brown;;
• needle length - up to 3 cm.

The "personal" territory of males ranges from 7 to 40 hectares, while that of females is more modest - within 10 hectares. The onset of frost causes the animals to tightly close the entrance to the hole and hibernate. At this time, the hedgehog's body temperature drops to 1.8 °C. Animals sleep from October to April. In the spring, as soon as the air temperature warms up to +15 ° C, they begin to emerge from the mink. To survive the winter, the animal needs to work up to 500 grams of fat.

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of one year. Pregnancy lasts up to 50 days, childbirth takes place from May to October. There can be up to 10 hedgehogs in a litter. Near the mother, they are up to one and a half months. The average life expectancy is up to 5 years.

African pygmy

Of all the species of hedgehogs (photos of mammals are in the text) of the African genus, the pygmy hedgehog is quite curious. Found in Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia Senegal. Description:

• body length - up to 22 cm;
• tail length - up to 2.5 cm;
• live weight - 350-700 grams;
• color - brown or gray;
• do not hibernate.

The eyes are medium-sized, the ears are rounded, the females are somewhat larger than the males. It makes soft squealing or snorting sounds, but in case of danger it can scream loudly. Animals of this species are kept as pets.

Eared

Of the six eared species of hedgehogs (photo below), only one lives in Russia - dark needle. Animals are distinguished by long ears growing up to 5 cm. Description:

• body length - 12-27 cm;
• live weight - up to 500 grams;
• needle length within 2 cm.

Usually, "Eareds" choose to run away as a defense, rather than curling up into a ball. This species loves deserts, semi-deserts, dry steppes. Prefers to settle near abandoned ditches or damp ravines. Feeds on insects, small vertebrates, berries, fruits, seeds.

Gymnura

The common hymnura is a subfamily of rat hedgehogs. Description:

• body length - 26-45 cm;
• live weight - 500-2000 grams;
• tail length - 15-30 cm.

The sides and back are black in color, the neck, head and back of the tail are white. The tail is covered with scales and sparse hair. The hymnura has no needles. Inhabits the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. Feeds on small animals, fish, frogs, fruits.

The meaning of the word "Hedgehogs (family of mammals)"

hedgehogs(Erinaceidae), a family of mammals of the insectivorous order (Insectivora). 20 species belonging to 8 genera combined into 2 subfamilies: rat hedgehogs real E. (Erinaceinae); the latter are characterized by a short tail, the presence of needles (on the back) and the subcutaneous annular muscle, with the contraction of which the body rolls into a ball. Distributed in Europe, temperate latitudes of Asia, South Asia (India) and Africa. 3 genera; In the USSR, there are 4 types of E.: eared, long-needled, common, and Daurian. Eared Y. (Hemiechinus auritus) has long ears and soft white hair on the ventral side of the body; body length 15-19 cm; lives in the south-east. European part of the USSR, the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Long-needled, or bald, Y. (Paraechinus hypomelas) has a needle-free area on the crown, body length 22-27 cm, tail 23-37 mm; long needles (up to 4 cm); widespread in Central Asia. The common E. (Erinaceus europaeus) has small ears, the color of the ventral side of the body is brownish; body length 20-25 cm, tail - 20-35 mm; lives in the European part of the USSR (excluding S.) and in the Far East; usually found in forests, gardens, bushes, floodplains and in the steppe. The nest is made under a bush, in a hole or a shallow mink. Spends the winter in hibernation. It feeds mainly on insects, as well as small vertebrates (including snakes), eats plant foods in small quantities. Useful for the destruction of harmful insects. Daursky Y. (E. dauricus) is found in Transbaikalia.

Lit.: Ognev S.I., Animals of Eastern Europe and North Asia, vol. 1, M. - L., 1928; Bobrinsky N. A., Kuznetsov B. A., Kuzyakin A. P., Key to Mammals of the USSR, 2nd ed., M., 1965.

Hedgehogs: 1 - ordinary; 2 - eared; 3 - long needle.

In chapter Animals, Plants to the question What order and species do hedgehogs belong to? :)) given by the author User deleted the best answer is Hedgehog is cool, I had hedgehogs.
I advise, if you do not care that they lead a nocturnal lifestyle. There will be a little animal running around the apartment at night, stomping its nails and sticking its nose everywhere, and in the morning you wake up with it in the same bed)) . A domestic hedgehog is like a cat - when you stroke it, it even folds the needles (and the wild ones tense up and bounce, thereby pricking their hands with needles). For the day he will hide somewhere under the bed and sleep there. It is not a whimsical animal for food - it is an omnivore and drinks milk and eats meat. In the summer we took him to the dacha, released him into a greenhouse, and he himself caught all kinds of insects and frogs there.))
In general, if you love animals, you can start and love anyone)))

Answer from Riv[guru]
probably rodents

Answer from Unknown Unknown[guru]
to carnivores, they probably drink milk by the way

Answer from SPEEDKING[guru]
INSECTIVORE
Order of mammals. The most ancient and primitive of the placentals. The teeth are poorly differentiated. The limbs of the majority are plantigrade, five-fingered. The olfactory lobes of the brain are highly developed. 7 families, including hedgehogs, moles, shrews. Distributed widely. Most species are characterized by twilight activity. They feed on invertebrates. Most benefit agriculture and forestry. Some are commercial items.
In hedgehogs, the subcutaneous muscles are highly developed, especially in hedgehogs (when the ring muscles contract, their body turns into a kind of ball covered with needles on almost all sides). Some hibernate in winter. In Russia, in forests, steppes and deserts, the common and eared hedgehogs are the most common.
The hedgehog will not live at home!

Answer from Yonezhana[guru]
Yes, they stomp at night like elephants!! ! I do not advise. Or should they be kept locked up!

Answer from Katerina Pavlyuk[guru]
Mnu had ... very loud stomping! to the detachment of prickly creatures)))

Answer from Pronya[guru]
insectivores...
I had such an idea, and a hedgehog lives at the carrier at our work. By the way, this is not uncommon now. But I think that there is no particular sense in it as a house.

Answer from Natalya Fitsner[guru]
Hedgehogs are a family of mammals, a squad of insectivores, 20 species, united in 2 subfamilies: real hedgehogs and gymnurs (rat hedgehogs). It is not difficult to keep them, but it is better in a private house, and not in an apartment.