NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Hugh's Forest Hedgehog
Mesechinus hughi (Thomas, 1908)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Mesechinus hughi
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Open encyclopedia reference
Hugh's hedgehog (Mesechinus hughi), also sometimes referred to as the central Chinese hedgehog, is native to central China and Manchuria. It prefers open areas of dry steppe, but can be found in shrubland and forests. It is known to look for food even in daytime on rainy days.
Wikipedia contributors, Hugh's hedgehog; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:44:20.155901+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Mesechinus hughi (Thomas, 1908)
- Name authority
- (Thomas, 1908)
- Common name
- Hugh's Forest Hedgehog
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Eulipotyphla
- Family
- Erinaceidae
- Genus
- Mesechinus
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderEulipotyphla Waddell, Okada & Hasegawa, 1999
- familyErinaceidae G. Fischer, 1814
- subfamilyErinaceinae G. Fischer, 1814
- genusMesechinus Ognev, 1951
- speciesMesechinus hughi (Thomas, 1908)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Mesechinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Small-toothed Forest HedgehogMesechinus miodon (Thomas, 1908) | ErinaceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Eastern Forest HedgehogMesechinus orientalis Shi, Yao, K. He, Bai, J. Zhou, J. Fan, W. Su, W. Nie, S. Yang, Onditi, X. Jian & Z. Chen, 2023 | ErinaceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Gaoligong Forest HedgehogMesechinus wangi He, Jiang Xuelong & Ai Huaisen, 2018 | ErinaceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Daurian HedgehogMesechinus dauuricus (Sundevall, 1842) | ErinaceidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Hemiechinus sylvaticus Ma, 1964 Ma, 1964 | synonym |
| Erinaceus hughi Thomas, 1908 Thomas, 1908 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=633548 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3ZY2R. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.