Its spines are modified hairs of keratin, as many as 7,000 of them.
From West European Hedgehog
It can curl into a tight ball in defence.
From West European Hedgehog
It can reach 2 kg before hibernating.
From West European Hedgehog
It is the fastest hedgehog: instead of curling into a ball when threatened it runs, and only bristles in defence if cornered.
From Long-eared Hedgehog
Its huge ears work as radiators on the dry steppe, the same principle used by desert hares and fennec foxes.
From Long-eared Hedgehog
It hunts scorpions with a precise technique: it first tears off the sting and then eats them, and it is also partly resistant to the venom of several desert species.
From Desert Hedgehog
It can go weeks without food by entering torpor, an ability that lets it ride out the driest spells of the Saharan summer without leaving the burrow.
From Desert Hedgehog
On Fuerteventura and Lanzarote it lives alongside the Canary shrew, and there are signs that its introduction has contributed to the decline of invertebrates endemic to the malpaís lava fields.
From North African Hedgehog

Ecosystems