Alias:Hainan hedgehog
Outline:Shrews
Family:Eulipotyphla Erinaceidae Neohylomys
length:123-146.5mm
Weight:52-70g
Life:No research data yet
IUCN:LC
The Hainan New Hairy Hedgehog is similar in appearance to the hairy hedgehog and the shrew hedgehog, and similar to the species of the genus Helminthus, all have shorter tails, hence the name "New Hairy Hedgehog".
The Hainan New Hairy Hedgehog is the only living species of the genus Helminthus. Molecular biological studies have shown that Hainan Neohairhedgehog, Hedgehog and Shrew Hedgehog began to differentiate as early as 10 million years ago, supporting that they are each independent genera. This species has always been considered endemic to Hainan Island. However, in 2018, Russian scientists accidentally captured 5 Hainan Neohairhedgehogs during an expedition in northern Vietnam. These individuals have clear black stripes on their backs and their tooth patterns match those of Hainan Neohairhedgehog. The formation history of Hainan Island is relatively complicated. In the past hundreds of thousands of years, there have been many "sea retreat" events: that is, due to the cooling of the global climate and the drop in sea levels, the island and the mainland have been connected by "land bridges" many times. Therefore, the mammals of Hainan Island have many similar or even identical components with those in South China and even northern Vietnam. It is not clear when this species migrated between northern Vietnam and Hainan Island. It is speculated that this species may also be distributed in the western mountainous areas of Guangxi adjacent to northern Vietnam.
Hainan New Hairy Hedgehog is a hedgehog without spines on its body, with a pointed and long mouth. This species is a relatively primitive insectivorous hedgehog, with mouse-gray fur and a slight brownish-yellow hue. This nocturnal animal, which looks a bit like a vole, is only distributed on Hainan Island. It mostly lives in tropical rainforests and tropical secondary forests at higher altitudes, often under mixed woods or in piles of rocks.
The IUCN/SSC Insectivore Specialist Group (1995) believes that due to the pressure of deforestation and agricultural development on Hainan's forests, it is listed as endangered according to the new IUCN standards B1 and 2(c). Since the new standard does not have a "rare" level, and the endangered status of this species is actually different from the "endangered" in the strict sense, it is still classified as rare here.
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