

620 



INSEC TIVORA 



species, G. rafflesi and G. suilla, from the Malay Penisula and Indian 

 Archipelago. The former has the appearance of a large Rat with a 

 long tail and head and projecting mobile snout ; the latter, which is 

 much smaller, with a short tail and small third upper premolar, has 

 long been known under the name of Hylomys suillus, and classed 

 with the Tupaiidaz. Both species present a very generalised type 

 of dentition, in this respect occupying an almost central position in 

 the order. G. suilla is represented in Mount Kina-Balu, Borneo, by 

 a variety characterised by the presence of a dark dorsal streak. 

 Many zoologists prefer to retain Hylomys as a distinct genus. 



Subfamily Erinaeeinae. — Palate imperfectly ossified; pelvis 

 wide ; fur with spines. 



Erinaceus. 1 — Dentition : i%,c\,p^,m%; total 36. The first pair 

 of upper incisors (Fig. 285) are considerably larger than the others, 



and are widely 

 separated from one 

 another in the 

 middle line ; the 

 canine is very simi- 

 lar to the third in- 

 cisor : and, except 

 in E. europceus (Fig. 

 285), each of these 

 teeth is inserted by 

 two distinct roots 

 (Fig. 280, p. 610). 



Fig. 285.— Bight lateral aspect of the anterior portion of the The first lower ill- 

 skull of the Hedgehog (Erinaceus europceus). Enlarged. (From cisor is lar°"e and 

 Dobson, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1SS1, p. 403.) ■■ . rr-\ 



prochvous. lhe 

 number of vertebrae is C 7, D 15, L 6, S 3, C 11. 



The Hedgehogs comprise nearly twenty species, distributed 

 throughout Europe, Africa, and the greater part of Asia, but not 

 found in Madagascar, Ceylon, Burma, Siam, the Malay Peninsula, 

 or Australia. All the species resemble one another in the armature 

 of spines investing the upper surface and sides of the body ; and 

 all possess the power of rolling themselves up into the form of 

 a ball, protected on all sides by the strong spines ; the dorsal 

 integument being brought downwards and inwards over the head 

 and tail, so as to include the limbs also, by the action of special 

 muscles. The common Hedghog (E. europceus) is the most aberrant 

 species, differing from all the rest in the peculiarly shaped and 

 single-rooted third upper incisor and canine (Fig. 285), and in its 

 very coarse, harsh fur. The dentition of the long-eared North 

 Indian form, E. collaris (Fig. 280), may be considered characteristic 

 of all the other species, the only important differences being found 

 1 Linn. Syst. Nat. 12th ed. vol. i. p. 75 (1766). 



