| Silvacola Temporal range: Eocene | |
|---|---|
| |
| An artist's illustration of Silvacola acares | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Erinaceidae |
| Genus: | †Silvacola Eberle, Rybczynski & Greenwood 2014 |
| Species: | †S. acares |
| Binomial name | |
| †Silvacola acares Eberle, Rybczynski & Greenwood 2014 | |
Silvacola is an extinct genus of hedgehog which lived in North America during the Eocene, 50 million years ago. It was just 5 to 6 centimeters long, roughly the length of an adult thumb. It's the smallest hedgehog ever found and comparable in size to some of today’s shrews.[1][2]
The teeth of the tiny hedgehog suggest it was an omnivore that probably ate insects and plants it found on the forest floor.
The fossil was discovered in the Driftwood Creek Beds near Smithers, British Columbia, about 670 kilometers north of Vancouver. It was once the site of an ancient lake, and it is a popular place to find fossils of early Eocene flora and fauna.
