''Amphechinus'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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. Eulipotyphla ...

, which lived in Asia and Europe during the

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

and in North America, Africa, Asia and Europe during the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

Taxonomy

''Amphechinus'' was named by

Auguste Aymard Auguste Aymard (5 December 1808 – 26 June 1889) was a French prehistorian and palaeontologist who lived and died in Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire). He described the fossil '' Entelodon magnus'' and the fossil genera ''Anancus'' and ''Amphechinus''. ...

in 1850. It is not extant. It was assigned to

by Aymard (1850), Rich (1981) and Pickford et al. (2000).

Morphology

A single specimen was examined by J. I. Bloch, K. D. Rose, and P. D. Gingerich for

body mass Human body weight is a person's Mass versus weight, mass or weight. Strictly speaking, body weight is the measurement of weight without items located on the person. Practically though, body weight may be measured with clothes on, but without shoe ...

and was estimated to have a weight of .J. I. Bloch, K. D. Rose, and P. D. Gingerich. 1998. New species of Batodonoides (Lipotyphla, Geolabididae) from the early Eocene of Wyoming: smallest known mammal?. Journal of Mammalogy 79(3):804-827. Its fossils have been found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Species

''A. akespensis, A. arvernensis, A. baudelotae, A. edwardsi, A. ginsburgi, A. golpeae, A. horncloudi, A. intermedius, A. kreuzae, A. major, A. microdus, A. minutissimus, A. robinsoni, A. taatsiingolensis''.

Sources

* ''The Beginning of the Age of Mammals'' by Kenneth D. Rose

External links

''Amphechinus''
in the

Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals, plants, and microorganisms. History The Paleobiology Database (PBDB) originated in the NCEAS-funded Phanerozoic Marine Pale ...

Hedgehogs Tortonian genus extinctions Miocene mammals of Africa Oligocene mammals of Asia Miocene mammals of Asia Oligocene mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of North America Prehistoric placental genera Oligocene genus first appearances Fossil taxa described in 1850 {{paleo-mammal-stub