The world’s hedgehogs
How many are there? It depends who you ask, and when.
Wikipedia's hedgehog article says there are 17 species in five genera, though its own genus list names 18. Wikipedia Hedgehog Street, run by PTES and the BHPS, counts 19 species in five genera. Hedgehog Street The genus Mesechinus now holds five East Asian species, among them forest hedgehogs from China that were only recently recognised. source
That’s the honest answer: 17–19 species in five genera, with the number creeping up as forest hedgehogs in China are described and old “subspecies” get promoted. The eastern forest hedgehog of China is one of the newest, listed among mammal species described in the 2020s; the small-toothed forest hedgehog was long treated as a subspecies. source We list all 19 names below. Hedgehogs are native to parts of Europe, Asia and Africa, and live in New Zealand by introduction. None are native to Australia or the Americas. source
Not on the list: Porcupines (rodents) and echidnas (monotremes) look similarly spiny but are not related. source The hedgehogs' family, Erinaceidae, also includes the gymnures or moonrats of South-east Asia. source
Erinaceus
The “classic” hedgehogs of Europe and temperate Asia, including ours.
European hedgehogErinaceus europaeusWestern Europe incl. Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man; introduced to New Zealand
Northern white-breasted hedgehogErinaceus roumanicusPoland and Austria east through Russia to the Ob River
Southern white-breasted hedgehogErinaceus concolorEastern Europe and south-west Asia
Amur hedgehogErinaceus amurensisRussian Far East, Manchuria and the Korean PeninsulaAtelerix
The African hedgehogs, including the ancestor of the pet pygmy hedgehog.
Four-toed hedgehogAtelerix albiventrisCentral and eastern Africa
North African hedgehogAtelerix algirusNorth Africa, plus Spain, Malta and France
Southern African hedgehogAtelerix frontalisSouthern Africa, from Angola to ZimbabweHemiechinus
Long-eared hedgehogs of dry country in Asia and the Middle East.
Paraechinus
Desert hedgehogs: small, fast and often big-eared.
Mesechinus
East Asian steppe and forest hedgehogs, several only recently described.
Daurian hedgehogMesechinus dauuricusTransbaikal Russia and northern MongoliaRange summaries are simplified from each species’ Wikipedia article (linked on each page). Photos are checked against Wikimedia Commons species categories.