[The first genetic evidence of hybridization between west European and northern white-breasted hedgehogs (Erinaceus europaeus and E. roumanicus) in Moscow Region].

The complex genetic examination of hedgehogs from the vicinity of the village of Nikolina Gora (Moscow region, Odintsovskii district) showed both Erinaceus europaeus and E. roumanicus in the sample. One of the hedgehogs was designated as E. roumanicus by the nucleotide sequence of 1 TTR intron but possessed mitochondrial DNA of E. europeus. Only one of the chromosomal pairs that differ in E. europeus and E. roumanicus was heteromorphic in this specimen. Its hybridous origin as the offspring of one or several back-crosses between F1 hybrid and E. roumanicus was suggested.