The moonrat (''Echinosorex gymnura'') is a southeast Asian species of mammal in the family Erinaceidae (

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 introductio ...

s and gymnures). It is the only species in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Echinosorex''. The moonrat is a fairly small, primarily carnivorous animal which, despite its name, is not closely related to rats or other rodents. The scientific name is sometimes given as ''Echinosorex gymnurus'', but this is incorrect.

Description

The moonrat has a distinct pungent odor with strong ammonia content, different from the musky smell of carnivorans. There are two subspecies: ''E. g. gymnura'' is found in Sumatra and the

Thai-Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula ( Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The ar ...

; ''E. g. alba'' is found in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. In the former the head and frontal half of the body are white or grey-white; the remaining is mainly black. The latter subspecies is generally white (''alba'' means white in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

), with a sparse scattering of black hairs; it appears totally white from a distance. Those from western Borneo tend to have a greater proportion of black hairs than those from the east, but animals from

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by t ...

appear intermediate. Largely white ''E. g. gymnura'' also occur, but they are rare. Head and body length is , tail length is , hind foot length is and weight is . The dental formula is .Payne, J. and Francis, C. M. 2005. ''A Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo''. Sabah society, Malaysia . It is possibly the largest member of the order

Erinaceomorpha 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. Eulipotyph ...

, although the

European hedgehog The European hedgehog (''Erinaceus europaeus''), also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles.Harris, S ...

likely weighs a bit more at and up to .

Distribution

Moonrats inhabit most jungle terrain in southern

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Peninsular Thailand Southern Thailand, Southern Siam or Tambralinga is a southernmost cultural region of Thailand, separated from Central Thailand region by the Kra Isthmus. Geography Southern Thailand is on the Malay Peninsula, with an area of around , bounded ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia ( ms, Semenanjung Malaysia; Jawi: سمننجڠ مليسيا), or the States of Malaya ( ms, Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu; Jawi: نڬري-نڬري تانه ملايو), also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, ...

, Borneo and Sumatra. Although they are closely related to the short-tailed gymnure (''Hylomys suillus'') and to the

, full grown specimens more closely resemble large rats, with which they share similar habits and ecological niches.Family Erinaceidae or gymnures and hedgehogs
Thewebsiteofeverything.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-19. In Borneo, they occur at many sites throughout the lowlands and up to 900 m in the

Kelabit Highlands The Kelabit Highlands are a mountain range located in the northernmost part of Sarawak, Malaysia in the Miri Division. It hosts the Bario village. The highest mountains in this range are Mount Murud at , Bukit Batu Buli at , and Bukit Batu Lawi at ...

. They appear to be absent or rare in some localities, possibly due to a shortage of suitable food.

Ecology and habitat

Moonrats are nocturnal and terrestrial, lying up under logs, roots or in abandoned burrows during the day. They inhabit moist forests including mangrove and swamp forests and often enter water. In Borneo, they occur mainly in forests, but in peninsular Malaysia they are also found in gardens and plantations. They feed on earthworms and various small animals, mostly arthropods. The moonrat is a host of the

acanthocephala Acanthocephala (Greek , ', thorn + , ', head) is a phylum of parasitic worms known as acanthocephalans, thorny-headed worms, or spiny-headed worms, characterized by the presence of an eversible proboscis, armed with spines, which it uses to p ...

n intestinal parasite '' Moniliformis echinosorexi''.

Behaviour and reproduction

Moonrats release strong odours with a strong ammonia content to mark the edges of their territories and warn other moonrats to stay away with threatening hisses also to ward off predators. Adults live alone. When they are preparing to have young, they will make nests mostly from leaves. Females usually have two babies at one time.

Diet

The moonrat is an omnivore, known to eat a wide range of invertebrates—for example, worms, insects, crabs and other invertebrates found in moist areas. They will also eat fruit, and occasionally frogs or fish.

Lifespan

The lifespan of the moonrat is up to five years.The Leading America Zoo Site on the Net
americazoo.com. Retrieved on 2012-12-19.

Conservation status

The moonrat is not considered a threatened species. The main threat to the moonrat is deforestation activities due to human development for agriculture, plantation, and commercial logging. Moreover, other demands from Penan in Borneo for food and traditional medicinal contribute to decreasing numbers of moonrats in Borneo. The species is also found in protected areas, including Matang National Park and Kuching Wetlands National Park. Its IUCN status is Least Concern.

Economic importance

The

Penan The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such pe ...

in Borneo used to trade moonrat meat for other foods and goods among themselves and for money.

References

External links

Echinosorex gymnura
- Animal Diversity Web {{Taxonbar, from1=Q754046, from2=Q10757917 Gymnures Mammals of Borneo Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of Indonesia Mammals of Malaysia Mammals of Thailand Mammals described in 1822