A new species of hedgehog stands out for its short spikes

Initially mistaken for one of its close relatives, a group of small, spiky mammals in eastern China has now been identified as a new species: the eastern forest hedgehog.

Researchers first scooped up one of these dark spike balls in the province of Anhui in 2018. It looked like a Hugh’s hedgehog (Mesechinus hughi), a species typically found some 1,000 kilometers west. But the rogue hedgehog’s DNA didn’t quite match that of its westward relatives. So scientists collected six more individuals from scrublands and forests around Anhui and the neighboring province of Zhejiang for a closer look.

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