The Jingshan mountainous area in Hangzhou's Yuhang district recently unveiled a new and previously undocumented species – the Mesechinus orientalis, as confirmed by experts and scholars.

The newly discovered species, belonging to the Mesechinus genus in China, has the shortest spine among all hedgehogs. It is also slightly smaller than the closely related Mesechinus species.

It is geographically isolated from its congeners by at least 1,000 kilometers, and it is currently the southeasternmost species of Mesechinus. It can be found in scrubland and subtropical broad-leaf evergreen forests at elevations of 30 to 700 m.

In September 2021, local researchers received a video showing a hedgehog running into a rural guesthouse. It had a black-brown color and was happily munching on a green caterpillar.

Upon closer inspection, researchers realized that the animal differed from the only documented hedgehog species in Zhejiang, the Erinaceus amurensis. They then confirmed that the "little chubby" was a species never before sighted in Zhejiang – Mesechinus hughi.

To date, Mesechinus hughi has been sighted in locations such as Meishan town in Changxing county, Longwang Mountain in Anji county, both located in Hangzhou's neighboring Huzhou city, and Qingliang Peak in Hangzhou's Lin'an district.