Erinaceus amurensis Schrenk, 1858

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 16

Erinaceus amurensis Schrenk, 1858 — Amur Hedgehog

Erinaceus europaeus var. amurensis Schrenk, 1858 p.100 ; Type locality- Gulssoja , Northeastern China.

E. orientalis Allen, 1903 p.179 ; Type locality- Vladivostok , Russia.

E. koreanus Lönnberg, 1922 p.624 ; Type locality- Korea.

E. amurensis koreensis: Mori, 1922a p.616 : Jones & Johnson, 1960 p.554; Han, 2004a p.21.

E. europaeus koreensis: Tate, 1947 p.39 ; Won, 1958 p.450; Won, 1967 p.262; Yoon, 1992 p.17.

E. europaeus orientalis: Won, 1958 p.450 .

E. amurensis orientalis: Jones & Johnson, 1960 p.556 .

E. europaeus orientalis amurensis: Won, 1967 p.262 .

E. europaeus amurensis: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.20 ; Won, 1968 p.40; Corbet, 1978 p.14; Yoon 1992 p.15.

E. europaeus koreanus: Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.22 .

E. amurensis: Han, 1994 p45 ; Won & Smith, 1999 p.8; Han, 2004a p.20.

Range: Erinaceus amurensis commonly inhabits deciduous and mixed forests of Korea, except most islands ( Yoo 2000; Fig. 6 ).

Remarks: Several mammalogists classified Erinaceus amurensis in the europaeus group, but Corbet (1984) suggested the taxon was a separate species. Zaitsev (1984) and Bannikova et al. (1996) confirmed the species status of the Amur hedgehog by morphological and DNA investigations, respectively. Oka et al. (2010) also determined E. amurensis and E. concolor as subspecies of E. europaeus based on mtDNA analysis. Two allopatric subspecies, E. a. orientalis in the North and E. a. koreensis in the South are recognized in Korea ( Jones & Johnson, 1960) but Won (1968) recognized E. amurensis as a monotypic species. The subspecific status is uncertain in Korea ( Won & Smith 1999).

Conservation status: Populations in South Korea have declined due to habitat loss and use for traditional medicine (NIBR 2012). The species was designated as provincially protected by Seoul, Ulsan, Gwangju, Daejeon, Gyeonggi Province and Jeollanam Province local governments.

Figures

FIGURE 6. Range map of Erinaceus amurensis in Korea.