English: The African pygmy hedgehog is an artificial subspecies of the white-bellied hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), which does not occur in nature. Its spines have a structure characteristic of all hedgehogs. The spines of all hedgehogs are made of the same material as human hair - keratin.

Keratin is a fibrillar protein, second only to chitin in terms of strength among materials of biological origin. Structures such as hair, nails, rhinoceros horns, feathers, and the rhamphothecae of bird beaks are also made of keratin. The spines of the African pygmy hedgehog are 2.5 to 3 cm long and about 2 mm wide at their widest point. At the distal end, each spine tapers and becomes very sharp. Whereas the proximal end, which enters the skin, also tapers and bends 60 degrees, and then sharply expands, allowing the needle to be held firmly in the hedgehog's skin. An adult hedgehog has about 7,000 of them. The spines of hedgehogs not only protect them from predators, but also provide protection from shocks and falls, acting as shock absorbers. Since the hedgehog's spines are hollow, they can serve as a means of buoyancy when the animal enters the water. Thorns do not grow thickly, so they do not keep a layer of warm air around the hedgehog's body. Hedgehogs do not molt, dropping all the spines at once, but during life the old spines are gradually replaced by new ones.

Images were obtained using a Levenhuk ZOOM 1T stereo microscope and Levenhuk Microscope Digital Camera M Base Series, 10x magnification.

English: The African pygmy hedgehog is an artificial subspecies of the white-bellied hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), which does not occur in nature. Its spines have a structure characteristic of all hedgehogs. The spines of all hedgehogs are made of the same material as human hair - keratin. Keratin is a fibrillar protein, second only to chitin in terms of strength among materials of biological origin. Structures such as hair, nails, rhinoceros horns, feathers, and the rhamphothecae of bird beaks are also made of keratin. The spines of the African pygmy hedgehog are 2.5 to 3 cm long and about 2 mm wide at their widest point. At the distal end, each spine tapers and becomes very sharp. Whereas the proximal end, which enters the skin, also tapers and bends 60 degrees, and then sharply expands, allowing the needle to be held firmly in the hedgehog's skin. An adult hedgehog has about 7,000 of them. The spines of hedgehogs not only protect them from predators, but also provide protection from shocks and falls, acting as shock absorbers. Since the hedgehog's spines are hollow, they can serve as a means of buoyancy when the animal enters the water. Thorns do not grow thickly, so they do not keep a layer of warm air around the hedgehog's body. Hedgehogs do not molt, dropping all the spines at once, but during life the old spines are gradually replaced by new ones. Images were obtained using a Levenhuk ZOOM 1T stereo microscope and Levenhuk Microscope Digital Camera M Base Series, 10x magnification.