We usually imagine hedgehogs as adorable little things covered with spikes. But did you know that there are also hedgehog species that are covered with fur?
There have been two species of soft-furred hedgehogs known to scientists until recently. However, after research by a team from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, that number has gone up to seven.
According to a study published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, a team led by scientists Arlo Hinckley and Melissa Hawkins identified two species of soft-furred hedgehogs that were “entirely new to science” while three subspecies have been recognized as their own species “using DNA analysis and physical characteristics.”
The fuzzy hedgehogs are small mammals with a pointy snout that have been described as “a mixture of a mouse and a shrew with a short tail.” They are native to the region of South East Asia, with each of the newly discovered species living in a slightly different habitat. Some prefer the higher altitude, while others found their home in lowland forests.
“We think we know about the natural world, but even groups like mammals – especially the little things that live in difficult-to-reach habitats – we really don’t know much at all,” Dr. Hawkins told the BBC.
