Erinaceus europaeus Linnaeus, 1758 . Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1:52.

TYPE LOCALITY: "Europa", Sweden .

DISTRIBUTION: W Europe; Spain to Italy and Istrian Peninsula; north to Poland, Scandinavia and NW European Russia. Islands of Ireland, Britain, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and many smaller islands. European range mapped by Holz and Niethammer (1990:37). Introduced to New Zealand, see King (1990).

SYNONYMS: caniceps, caninus, consolei, centralrossicus, dissimilis, echinus, erinaceus, hispanicus, italicus, meridionalis, occidentalis, pallidus, suillus, typicus,.

COMMENTS: Formerly included amurensis and concolor, see comments therein. Subspecific boundaries are uncertain, see Corbet (1988:137).