Gymnure

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Gymnures [1]
Hylomys suillus dorsalis.jpg
Bornean short-tailed gymnure
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Eulipotyphla
Family: Erinaceidae
Subfamily: Galericinae
Pomel, 1848
Genera [2]

Gymnures, also called hairy hedgehogs or moonrats, are mammals belonging to the subfamily Galericinae, in the family Erinaceidae and the order Eulipotyphla. Gymnures resemble rats but are not closely related as they are not rodents; they are instead closely related to hedgehogs, which also belong to Erinaceidae. They are thought to have appeared in Eastern Asia before their closest relatives, and changed little from the original ancestor, which is thought to have been also the ancestor of the shrews.

Contents

Description

Although the gymnures are more closely related to the hedgehogs, full-grown gymnures superficially resemble large rats, shrews, and opossums.

The gymnure's body plan is believed to resemble that of the earliest mammals,[ citation needed ] with a large, toothy head about 1/3 the length of the total body, a naked furless tail for balance and thermoregulatory purposes, and a plantigrade stance. In direct contrast to the closely related hedgehogs, gymnures are not spiny. [6]

They also have an outstanding sense of smell, and tactile response in the snout region.

Distribution and habitat

Gymnures inhabit moist jungle terrain in various locales of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Sumatra, China and the Malay Peninsula.

Behaviour

Gymnures are primarily carnivorous. They are nocturnal or crepuscular: they come out to forage at twilight or in the night to search the forest floor, using smell to find the animals that they eat. Gymnures eat various arthropods, mice, small reptiles and amphibians, with occasional fruit and fungi.

Gymnures keep territories, and individuals are solitary except when breeding. Gymnures have a very strong scent, typically described as a rancid garlic or onion smell, which is produced by its territory-marking scent glands. Several creatures similar in form and niche, such as the opossum and solenodon, have an odor similar to the gymnure's.

Classification

This subfamily has alternately been called Echinosoricinae, Galericinae, and Hylomyinae. Some researchers prefer Hylomyinae because the specific relationships of the extinct genus Galerix to living erinaceids are uncertain. [7] There are fifteen extant species in six genera: [1] [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insectivora</span> Now abandoned biological grouping

The order Insectivora is a now-abandoned biological grouping within the class of mammals. Some species have now been moved out, leaving the remaining ones in the order Eulipotyphla within the larger clade Laurasiatheria, which makes up one of the basal clades of placental mammals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eulipotyphla</span> Order of mammals

Eulipotyphla is an order of mammals comprising the hedgehogs and gymnures; the solenodons; the moles, shrew-like moles and desmans; and true shrews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erinaceidae</span> Family of mammals

Erinaceidae is a family in the order Eulipotyphla, consisting of the hedgehogs and moonrats. Until recently, it was assigned to the order Erinaceomorpha, which has been subsumed with the paraphyletic Soricomorpha into Eulipotyphla. Eulipotyphla has been shown to be monophyletic; Soricomorpha is paraphyletic because both Soricidae and Talpidae share a more recent common ancestor with Erinaceidae than with solenodons.

<i>Hylomys</i> Genus of mammals

Hylomys is a small genus of the family Erinaceidae. Hylomys species, like all species in the subfamily Galericinae, are known as gymnures or moonrats. Their closest relatives include the fossil Lantanotherium and Thaiagymnura and the living Neotetracus and Neohylomys. Members of this genus are found in Southeast Asia and Eastern Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Javan short-tailed gymnure</span> Species of mammal

The Javan short-tailed gymnure is a small mammal from the family of the Erinaceidae. The scientific name of the species is first published by Salomon Müller in 1840. This species used to include the dorsalis, maxi, and peguensis subspecies, but these have now been elevated to species of their own: the Bornean short-tailed gymnure, Max's short-tailed gymnure, and the northern short-tailed gymnure. In addition, two new species were created from two other populations of H. suillus. The range of this species is now limited to Java.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moonrat</span> Species of mammal in the Erinaceidae family

The moonrat is a southeast Asian species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae. It is the only species in the genus Echinosorex. The moonrat is a fairly small, primarily carnivorous animal which, despite its name, is not closely related to rats or other rodents. The scientific name is sometimes given as Echinosorex gymnurus, but this is incorrect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hainan gymnure</span> Species of mammal

The Hainan gymnure or Hainan moonrat is a species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It was thought to be endemic to the island of Hainan, China, where it is threatened due to habitat loss, but in 2018 was found to also occur in, and be rather common, in Northern Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shrew gymnure</span> Species of mammal

The shrew gymnure, or shrew hedgehog, is a species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae and is the only extant species in the genus Neotetracus. It is found in China, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

Podogymnura is a genus of mammal in the family Erinaceidae. It contains the following species:

<i>Podogymnura truei</i> Species of mammal

Podogymnura truei, also known as the Mindanao gymnure, Mindanao moonrat, or Mindanao wood shrew, is a mammal of the family Erinaceidae. It is endemic to the Mindanao islands of the Philippines. Erinaceidae is a family of small mammals that include the gymnures, also known as the silky furred moonrats, and the hedgehogs. Animals belonging to this family are significant because they are among the oldest known placental mammals that are alive. Gymnures are relatives of hedgehogs but lack the prickly spines. Four species are categorized in the genus Podogymnura: P. aureospinula, P. intermedia, P. minima, and P. truei. All share a close resemblance to the moonrat Echinosorex gymnura, which is commonly found on the Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsulas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-eared gymnure</span> Species of mammal

The long-eared gymnure is a eulipotyphlan that is found in Laos. This specific type of gymnure has long ears and a long skull compared to that of others. It is also recognized for its broad forefeet, stout claws, and naked hindfeet. While it was previously lumped in with the dwarf and short-tailed gymnures of the genus Hylomys, it is now placed in its own genus Otohylomys.

The eastern Mindanao gymnure is a species of gymnure in the genus Podogymnura. It is known only from Mount Hamiguitan and Mount Kampalili, two mountains in the eastern part of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It was first named in 2023 by a team of researchers led by Danilo Balete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bornean short-tailed gymnure</span> Species of mammal

The Bornean short-tailed gymnure is a gymnure. It was previously recognized as a subspecies of H. suillus, but it was elevated to full species in 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 Hutterer, R. (2005). Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 212–217. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
  2. ↑ Lopatin, A. V. (2006). "Early Paleogene insectivore mammals of Asia and establishment of the major groups of Insectivora". Paleontological Journal. 40 (S3): S205–S405. doi:10.1134/S0031030106090012. S2CID   84144565.
  3. ↑ Masini, F.; Fanfani, F. (2013). "Apulogalerix pusillus nov. gen., nov. sp., the small-sized Galericinae (Erinaceidae, Mammalia) from the "Terre Rosse" fissure filling of the Gargano (Foggia, South-Eastern Italy)". Geobios. 46 (1–2): 89–104. doi:10.1016/j.geobios.2012.10.008.
  4. ↑ Jiménez-Hidalgo, E.; Guerrero-Arenas, R.; Crespo, V. D. (2022). "First galericine erinaceid (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla) from the early Oligocene of tropical North America". Historical Biology: 1–6. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2070018. S2CID   248467861.
  5. ↑ van den Hoek Ostende, L. W. (2003). "Riddleria atecensis nov. gen. nov. sp., a peculiar erinaceid (Erinaceomorpha, Mammalia) from the Lower Miocene of Spain". Beiträge zur Paläontologie. 28: 1–11.
  6. ↑ Feldhamer, George [and 4 others] (2015). Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology, Edition 4. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 285. ISBN   978-1-4214-1588-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Gould, G.C. (1995). "Hedgehog phylogeny (Mammalia, Erinaceidae) – the reciprocal illumination of the quick and the dead". American Museum Novitates (3131): 1–45. hdl:2246/3665.
  8. ↑ Hinckley, A.; Camacho-Sanchez, M.; et al. (2023). "An integrative taxonomic revision of lesser gymnures (Eulipotyphla: Hylomys) reveals five new species and emerging patterns of local endemism in Tropical East Asia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society: zlad177. doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad177 .
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