Deinogalerix, the Gargantuan Gymnure of Gargano

All right, some of you won't know what a Gymnure is ... it is also called a Moon Rat, and is a member of the hedgehog family, except with bristly fur rather than spines. Deinogalerix was a kind of gymnure that lived in what is today the Gargano peninsula of Italy, but back in the late Miocene (7-5 million years ago) was an island. Deinogalerix koenigswaldi was the largest species, with a skull measuring 20 cm . For comparison I include its relative the modern Long-Eared Hedgehog, Hemiechinus auritus. Deinogalerix probably became as large as it did because of a lack of other mammalian predators on the island. It had huge sharp teeth and may have eaten small mammals, birds and reptiles in addition to insects. Itself might have been the prey of a gigantic barn owl that also lived on the island back then.