The moonrat (''Echinosorex gymnura'') is a southeast Asian species of

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

in the family

Erinaceidae 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. Eulipotyphl ...

(the

hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...

s and

gymnure 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 in ...

s). It is the only species in the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''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.

Description

The moonrat has a distinct pungent odor with strong ammonia content, different from the musky smell of carnivorans. There are two subspecies: ''E. g. gymnura'' is found in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

and the Thai-Malay Peninsula; ''E. g. alba'' is found in

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. In the former the head and frontal half of the body are white or grey-white; the remaining is mainly black. The latter subspecies is generally white (''alba'' means white in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

), with a sparse scattering of black hairs; it appears totally white from a distance. Those from western Borneo tend to have a greater proportion of black hairs than those from the east, but animals from

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

appear intermediate. Largely white ''E. g. gymnura'' also occur, but they are rare. Head and body length is , tail length is , hind foot length is and weight is . The

dental formula Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiology ...

is .Payne, J. and Francis, C. M. 2005. ''A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo''. Sabah society, Malaysia . It is possibly the largest member of the order

Erinaceomorpha Erinaceidae is a family in the order Eulipotyphla, consisting of the hedgehogs and Galericinae, moonrats. Until recently, it was assigned to the order Erinaceomorpha, which has been subsumed with the paraphyletic Soricomorpha into Eulipotyphla. ...

, although the

European hedgehog The European hedgehog (''Erinaceus europaeus''), also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles.Harris, S. ...

likely weighs a bit more at and up to .

Ecology and habitat

Moonrats are nocturnal and terrestrial, lying up under logs, roots or in abandoned burrows during the day. They inhabit moist forests including mangrove and swamp forests and often enter water. In Borneo, they occur mainly in forests, but in peninsular Malaysia they are also found in gardens and plantations. They feed on earthworms and various small animals, mostly arthropods. The moonrat is a host of the

acanthocephala Acanthocephala ( Greek , ' 'thorn' + , ' 'head') is a group of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses t ...

n intestinal parasite '' Moniliformis echinosorexi''.

Lifespan

The lifespan of the moonrat is up to five years.The Leading America Zoo Site on the Net
americazoo.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.

Conservation status

The moonrat is not considered a threatened species. The main threat to the moonrat is deforestation activities due to human development for agriculture, plantation, and commercial logging. Moreover, other demands from Penan in Borneo for food and traditional medicinal contribute to decreasing numbers of moonrats in Borneo. The species is also found in protected areas, including Matang National Park and Kuching Wetlands National Park. Its IUCN status is Least Concern.

Economic importance

The Penan in Borneo used to trade moonrat meat for other foods and goods among themselves and for money.

References

External links

Echinosorex gymnura
- Animal Diversity Web {{Taxonbar, from1=Q754046, from2=Q10757917 Gymnures Mammals of Borneo Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Indonesia Mammals of Malaysia Mammals of Thailand Mammals described in 1822