Silvacola
Silvacola is an extinct genus of hedgehog of the family Erinaceidae, which lived in North America during the Eocene, 50 million years ago. It was just 5 to 6 centimeters long, roughly the length of an adult thumb. It is the smallest hedgehog ever found and comparable in size to some of today's shrews.[1]
| Silvacola Temporal range: Eocene | |
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| Genus: | Silvacola Eberle, Rybczynski & Greenwood 2014 |
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The teeth of the tiny hedgehog suggest it was an omnivore that probably ate insects and plants it found on the forest floor.
The fossil was discovered in the Driftwood Creek Beds near Smithers, British Columbia, about 670 kilometers north of Vancouver. It was once the site of an ancient lake, and it is a popular place to find fossils of early Eocene flora and fauna.[2]
References
- Eberle; Rybczynski; Greenwood (2014). "Early Eocene mammals from the Driftwood Creek beds, Driftwood Canyon Provincial Park, northern British Columbia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 34 (4): 739–746. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.838175.
- "Ancient hedgehog once inhabited British Columbia". EurekAlert!. 2014-07-08. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
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