View source for Gymnure

{{short description|Subfamily of mammals}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2011}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Gymnures<ref name="MSW3" />
| image = Hylomys suillus dorsalis.jpg
| image_caption = [[Bornean short-tailed gymnure]]
| taxon = Galericinae
| authority = [[Auguste Pomel|Pomel]], 1848
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision_ref = <ref name="Lopatin06" />
| subdivision = * {{Extinct}}''[[Apulogalerix]]''<ref name="Masini13" />
* {{Extinct}}''[[Deinogalerix]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Dzavui (mammal)|Dzavui]]''<ref name="Jiménez-Hidalgo22" />
* ''[[Echinosorex]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Eochenus]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Eogalericius]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Galerix]]''
* ''[[Hylomys]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Lantanotherium]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Microgalericulus]]''
* ''[[Neohylomys]]''
* ''[[Neotetracus]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Neurogymnurus]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Ocajila]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Oligochenus]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Parasorex]]''
* ''[[Podogymnura]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Proterix]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Protogalericius]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Pseudoneurogymnurus]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Riddleria]]''<ref name="HoekOstende03" />
* {{Extinct}}''[[Schizogalerix]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Tetracus]]''
* {{Extinct}}''[[Thaiagymnura]]''
}}

'''Gymnures''', also called '''hairy hedgehogs''' or '''moonrats''', are [[mammal]]s belonging to the subfamily '''Galericinae''', in the family [[Erinaceidae]] and the order [[Eulipotyphla]]. Gymnures may resemble [[rat]]s but are not closely related; they are not [[rodent]]s at all, but instead are closely related to [[hedgehog]]s, being their [[sister group]] within Erinaceidae. They are thought to have appeared in [[Eastern Asia]] {{Vague|date=September 2025|text=before their closest relatives,}} and changed little from the [[Common descent|original ancestor]], which is thought to have been also the ancestor of the [[shrews]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2025|reason=Yet they aren't that closely related to shrews? Is this talking about how they are "living fossils"?}}

==Description==
Although the gymnures are closest related to the hedgehogs, full-grown gymnures superficially resemble large rats, shrews, and [[opossum]]s as a result of [[convergent evolution]].

The gymnure's body plan is believed to resemble that of the earliest mammals,{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} with a large, toothy head about 1/3 the length of the total body, a naked furless tail for balance and [[thermoregulation|thermoregulatory]] purposes, and a [[plantigrade]] stance. In direct contrast to the closely related hedgehogs, gymnures are not spiny.<ref name= "Feldhamer15" />

Gymnures are primarily [[carnivore|carnivorous]]. They are [[nocturnal]] or [[crepuscular]]: they come out to forage at twilight or in the night to search the [[forest floor]], using their outstanding sense of smell and tactile response in the snout region,{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} to [[foraging|forage]] for food. Gymnures eat various [[arthropods]], [[mouse|mice]], small [[reptile]]s and [[amphibia]]ns, with occasional fruit and [[fungi]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

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 gland]]s. Several creatures similar in form and niche, such as the [[opossum]] and [[solenodon]], have an odor similar to the gymnure's.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

===Distribution===
Gymnures inhabit moist [[jungle]] terrain in various locales of [[Southeast Asia]], including [[Vietnam]], [[Sumatra]], [[China]] and the [[Malay Peninsula]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}} Fossil gymnures such as ''Deinogalerix'' have been found from Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Andrea Savorelli |author2=Federico Masini |author3=Paul P. A. Mazza |author4=Maria Adelaide Rossi |author5=Silvano Agostini |year=2017 |title=New species of ''Deinogalerix'' (Mammalia, Eulipotyphla) from the late Miocene of Scontrone (Abruzzo, central Italy) |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=Article number 20.1.16A |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2017/1658-deinogalerix-from-scontrone |doi=10.26879/672 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Classification==
{{seealso|List of erinaceids}}
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.<ref name="Gould95" />
There are fifteen extant species in six genera:<ref name="MSW3" /><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hinckley |first1=A. |last2=Camacho-Sanchez |first2=M. |last3=Chua |first3=M.A. |last4=Ruedi |first4=M. |last5=Lunde |first5=D. |last6=Maldonado |first6=J.E. |last7=Omar |first7=H. |last8=Leonard |first8=J.A. |last9=Hawkins |first9=M.T. |display-authors=2 |year=2023 |title=An integrative taxonomic revision of lesser gymnures (Eulipotyphla: ''Hylomys'') reveals five new species and emerging patterns of local endemism in Tropical East Asia |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=202 |issue=2 |article-number=zlad177 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlad177|doi-access=free }}</ref>
*Genus ''[[Echinosorex]]''
**''[[Echinosorex gymnura]]'' ([[moonrat]])
*Genus ''[[Hylomys]]''
**''[[Hylomys parvus]]'' ([[dwarf gymnure]])
**''[[Hylomys suillus]]'' ([[Javan short-tailed gymnure]] or lesser moonrat)
**''[[Hylomys dorsalis]]'' ([[Bornean short-tailed gymnure]])
**''[[Hylomys maxi]]'' ([[Max's short-tailed gymnure]])
**''[[Hylomys macarong]]'' ([[Dalat gymnure]])
**''[[Hylomys peguensis]]'' ([[Northern short-tailed gymnure]])
**''[[Hylomys vorax]]'' ([[Leuser gymnure]])
*Genus ''[[Neohylomys]]''
**''[[Neohylomys hainanensis]]'' ([[Hainan gymnure]] or Hainan moonrat)
*Genus ''[[Neotetracus]]''
**''[[Neotetracus sinensis]]'' ([[shrew gymnure]])
*Genus ''[[Otohylomys]]''
**''[[Otohylomys megalotis]]'' ([[Long-eared gymnure]])
*Genus ''[[Podogymnura]]''
**''[[Podogymnura aureospinula]]'' ([[Dinagat gymnure]] or Dinagat moonrat)
**''[[Podogymnura intermedia]]'' ([[Eastern Mindanao gymnure]] )
**''[[Podogymnura minima]]''
**''[[Podogymnura truei]]'' ([[Mindanao gymnure]] or Mindanao moonrat)

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Feldhamer15">{{Cite book|title=Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology, Edition 4|last=Feldhamer|first=George [and 4 others]|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4214-1588-8|location=Baltimore|page=285}}</ref>
<ref name="Gould95">{{cite journal | author = Gould, G.C. | year = 1995 | title = Hedgehog phylogeny (Mammalia, Erinaceidae) – the reciprocal illumination of the quick and the dead | journal = American Museum Novitates | issue = 3131 | pages = 1–45 | hdl = 2246/3665}}</ref>
<ref name="HoekOstende03">{{cite journal |last1=van den Hoek Ostende |first1=L. W. |title=''Riddleria atecensis'' nov. gen. nov. sp., a peculiar erinaceid (Erinaceomorpha, Mammalia) from the Lower Miocene of Spain |journal=Beiträge zur Paläontologie |date=2003 |volume=28 |pages=1–11 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280319322}}</ref>
<ref name="Jiménez-Hidalgo22">{{cite journal |last1=Jiménez-Hidalgo |first1=E. |last2=Guerrero-Arenas |first2=R. |last3=Crespo |first3=V. D. |title=First galericine erinaceid (Mammalia: Eulipotyphla) from the early Oligocene of tropical North America |journal=Historical Biology |date=2022 |volume=35 |issue=6 |pages=935–940 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2022.2070018|s2cid=248467861 }}</ref>
<ref name="Lopatin06">{{cite journal |last1=Lopatin |first1=A. V. |title=Early Paleogene insectivore mammals of Asia and establishment of the major groups of Insectivora |journal=Paleontological Journal |date=2006 |volume=40 |issue=S3 |pages=S205–S405 |doi=10.1134/S0031030106090012 |bibcode=2006PalJ...40S.205L |s2cid=84144565 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226404792}}</ref>
<ref name="Masini13">{{cite journal |last1=Masini |first1=F. |last2=Fanfani |first2=F. |title=''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) |journal=Geobios |date=2013 |volume=46 |issue=1–2 |pages=89–104 |doi=10.1016/j.geobios.2012.10.008 |bibcode=2013Geobi..46...89M }}</ref>
<ref name="MSW3">{{MSW3 Hutterer |id=13600053 |pages =212–217}}</ref>
}}

{{Eulipotyphla|G.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1755565}}

[[Category:Gymnures| ]]