Hedgehog Essay

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Atelerix albiventris, also commonly known as the four-toed hedgehog, is a fascinating organism with a plethora of intriguing characteristics. The hierarchical classification of this organism is as follows: Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Mammalia, order Insectivora, family Erinaceidae, genus Atelerix, and species albiventris. In the genus Atelerix, there are four other species. The members of this genus include the four-toed hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), the Somali Hedgehog (Atelerix sclateri), the Southern African Hedgehog (Atelerix frontalis), and the North African hedgehog (Atelerix algirus) (Santana 2010).The two distinctive features of the class Mammalia are the presence of hair and mammary glands. The function of hair is to serve as an insulator while the mammary glands enable females to produce nutritious, calorie-rich milk and nurse their young. Members of the order Insectivora are insect-eating mammals that have a long snout and either covered in fur or spines. Insectivores are seen as primitive mammals because they lack certain advanced characteristics seen in complex mammals, such as the primates. Instead of a ridged brain they have a smooth brain and instead of two separate openings for the genitals and anus, they have a cloaca, which serves as the opening for both the urinary and reproductive tracts. Furthermore, three commonly known mammals in this order Insectivora are the hedgehog, mole, and the. The genus Atelerix contains the African hedgehogs, which are distinguishable spines covering their bodies, a white fur belly, and typically are between six to eight inches in length (Vaughan 1972)
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Atelerix albiventris:

Physiology:

Muscles/skeletal system/locomotion

The four-toed hedgehog ...

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...significant service to the pet market (Cosley Zoo 2014).

Conservation Status:

The likelihood of the four-toed hedgehog going extinct is very improbable. They have an extensive range and are very stable in regards to their wildlife population. They continue to grow in the wild and animal experts have not seen any alarming declines in the population rates. Hence, they have a minimal conservation status. But with the four-toed hedgehog’s development into a popular exotic household pet, there have been some concerns about the threatening of the native populations in Africa. Luckily, there is a breeding stock that is present in the United States that supplies this pet demand. Furthermore, it is prohibited to transport the four-toed hedgehog animals out of Africa to the pet trade market. These regulations allow for the native populations to flourish (Nichols 2014)
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