Family ERINACEIDAE (HEDGEHOGS AND GYMNURES)

• Mediumssized insectivores/omnivores, with stiff spines on head and back and relatively short rostrum (hedgehogs) or soft or coarse fur and shrew-like snout (gymnures).

• 10-75 cm.

• Palearctic, Afrotropical, and Indo-Malayan Regions.

• Deserts, steppes, urban grasslands, forests, farmlands, alpine meadows, parks, and gardens (hedgehogs) or humid, tropical forests (gymnures).

• 10 genera, 26 species, 4b taxa.

• 2 species Endangered, 1 species Vulnerable; none Extinct since 1600.