Uploaded December 2023 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago

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In the evolutionary arms race between predator and prey, mammals have mostly gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to body armor.
There are, of course, a few exceptions to this rule... And that makes these super-healing spiny mice super weird mammals.

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Sources:
cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)00856-8
animaldiversity.org/accounts/Deomyinae
iucnredlist.org/species/271/2789136
researchgate.net/publication/312537822_Trajectories_from_extinction_Where_are_missing_mammals_rediscovered
https://www.bio.fsu.edu/~steppanlab/assets/files/Alhajeri,%20Hunt,%20Steppan%20Gerbillinae%20JZSER%202015.pdf
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470464
jstor.org/stable/1564085
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/move-over-armadillos-theres-a-new-bone-plated-mammal-in-town/
cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-zoology/article/abs/ecological-and-histological-aspects-of-tail-loss-in-spiny-mice-rodentia-muridae-acomys-with-a-review-of-its-occurrence-in-rodents/60A7ED78E0869780D82B0DBB452736FD

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Images:
Thumbnail: Edward L. Stanley, PhD
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1002/reg2.50
sketchfab.com/3d-models/acomys-cahirinus-uf-m-29706-610daba9fe924a4ba567c601b62a967f
twitter.com/VladimirDinets/status/834387378253000704
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/UranomysSierraLeone.jpg
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Extm_Glossotherium_robustum_rbh-hlmwh01913-12.jpg
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Pholidocercus_hassiacus%2C_hedgehog%2C_Late_Early_Eocene%2C_Darmstadt%2C_Germany_-_Houston_Museum_of_Natural_Science_-_DSC01950.JPG
cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)00856-8
flickr.com/photos/27603752@N04/35290867125/in/photolist-24wqNC5-Vi7FGw-UwXANV-WdFvUh-VxeSPw-ej23da-VLwVhi-u7GWN9-Vcr4Mo-eJde7W-WNA51W-ej23eg-G4wRNW
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/move-over-armadillos-theres-a-new-bone-plated-mammal-in-town/
gettyimages.ca/detail/1095074714
gettyimages.ca/detail/1183387238
gettyimages.ca/detail/1707033668
gettyimages.com/detail/1049984548
gettyimages.com/detail/1049984658
gettyimages.com/detail/1065210688
gettyimages.com/detail/1066482578
gettyimages.com/detail/1144956017
gettyimages.com/detail/1168444910
gettyimages.com/detail/1188270897
gettyimages.com/detail/1195874570
gettyimages.com/detail/1198085440
gettyimages.com/detail/1208874206
gettyimages.com/detail/1250688268
gettyimages.com/detail/1250932958
gettyimages.com/detail/1281864080
gettyimages.com/detail/1282057644
gettyimages.com/detail/1344838450
gettyimages.com/detail/1350912778
gettyimages.com/detail/1352388694
gettyimages.com/detail/1359576900
gettyimages.com/detail/1370510829
gettyimages.com/detail/1404875744
gettyimages.com/detail/1450007999
gettyimages.com/detail/1469849903
gettyimages.com/detail/1471964624
gettyimages.com/detail/1482160176
gettyimages.com/detail/1512379017
gettyimages.com/detail/1605532864
gettyimages.com/detail/472749865
gettyimages.com/detail/474550192
gettyimages.com/detail/485371714
gettyimages.com/detail/595323852
gettyimages.com/detail/696927896
gettyimages.com/detail/862405238
gettyimages.com/detail/video/mice-in-the-cage-stock-footage/508013918
inaturalist.org/observations/105611705
inaturalist.org/observations/37868580
pond5.com/stock-footage/item/162884967-golden-spiny-mouse-wandering-among-rocks-desert-mother-and-y
pond5.com/stock-footage/item/162885014-golden-spiny-mouse-wandering-among-rocks-desert
pond5.com/stock-footage/item/174903458-cairo-spiny-mouse-acomys-cahirinus
pond5.com/stock-footage/item/232538281-family-spiny-mouses-species-rodent-within-genus-acomys-spiny
youtube.com/watch?v=2qImxjeQcYs
youtube.com/watch?v=Wl90J2HJ1Hw
youtu.be/ETraLlLE2Ws?si=WIQuCATHedoRXM2V