A genus of spiny rodents found in South America, also known as spiny rats or hutias.
From Greek echinos (hedgehog) + mys (mouse), named for their distinctive spiny hair that resembles a hedgehog's quills.
Spiny rats like Echinomys are surprisingly recent discoveries in science—the first species wasn't formally described until the 1830s, and new species are still being found in remote rainforests.
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