| Amphechinus Temporal range: Oligocene–Miocene | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Erinaceidae |
| Subfamily: | Erinaceinae |
| Tribe: | †Amphechinini |
| Genus: | †Amphechinus Aymard, 1850 |
| Species | |
| |
Amphechinus is an extinct genus of hedgehog of the family Erinaceidae, which lived in Asia and Europe during the Oligocene and in North America, Africa, Asia and Europe during the Miocene. The genus contains at least 14 species. It is classified in the subfamily Erinaceinae and in the family Erinaceidae.
A single specimen examined in 1998 was estimated to have had a weight of 175 g (0.39 lb) when alive.
Characteristics
As a member of the family Erinaceidae and in the subfamily Erinaceinae, Amphechinus may have been around the size of the European hedgehog, with males being larger than females.
Diet
Like many other genuses in the family Erinaceidae, Amphechinus mostly ate either small invertebrates like modern day hedgehogs like beetles, worms, caterpillars earwigs and more other insect species and shuffle through the ground to find any insects.
Distribution
Amphechinus may have either lived in forests and dense areas with enough food sources like caterpillars and other insects to eat during the Oligocene roughly 30 million years ago in Asia and Europe in the Miocene.
Sources
- Bloch, J.I.; Rose, K.D.; Gingerich, P.D. (August 1998). "New species of Batodonoides (Lipotyphla, Geolabididae) from the early Eocene of Wyoming: smallest known mammal?". Journal of Mammalogy. 79 (3): 804–827. doi:10.2307/1383090. JSTOR 1383090.
- The Beginning of the Age of Mammals by Kenneth D. Rose
External links
- Amphechinus in the Paleobiology Database
| Taxon identifiers | |
|---|---|
| Amphechinus | |