Deinogalerix: not a giant extinct hedgehog, but close!

Rather,
Deinogalerix (Fig. 1, 2) is a giant moonrat, (Fig. 3) according to its nesting in the large reptile tree (LRT, 1399 taxa)

Deinogalerix koenigswaldi  (Freudenthal 1972; Villiera et al. 2013; Late Miocene 10-5mya; skull length 20cm, snout-vent length 60cm) is the extinct giant moon rat (not hedgehog), restricted to a Mediterranean island, now part of a peninsula. Giant premolars and tiny molars make the dentition unusual. Seven species have been identified.

Echinosorex gymnura (Blainville 1838; length to vent up to 40cm, tail up to 30cm, Fig. 3) is the extant moonrat, or gymnure, an omnivore that looks like an opossum or rat. Here it nests with Pholidocercus, a Messel pit armadillo-mimic we looked at earlier here. Distinct from most Glires, the canines are large.

References
Freudenthal M 1972. Deinogalerix koenigswaldi nov. gen., nov. spec., a giant insectivore from the Neogene of Italy. Scripta Geologica. 14: 1–19.
Villiera B, Van Den Hoek Ostendeb L, De Vosb J and Paviaa M 2013. New discoveries on the giant hedgehog Deinogalerix from the Miocene of Gargano (Apulia, Italy). Geobios. 46 (1–2): 63–75.

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