in ace us ▁europ ae us ▁has ▁a ▁general ised ▁body ▁structure ▁with ▁un special ised ▁lim b ▁g ird les . ▁The ▁animal ▁appears ▁brown ish ▁with ▁most ▁of ▁its ▁body ▁covered ▁by ▁up ▁to ▁ 6 , 0 0 0 ▁brown ▁and ▁white ▁sp ines . ▁L ength ▁of ▁head ▁and ▁body ▁is ▁~ ▁at ▁we an ing , ▁increasing ▁to ▁ ▁or ▁more ▁in ▁large ▁adult s . ▁This ▁species ▁has ▁an ▁extremely ▁short ▁tail ▁as ▁an ▁almost ▁v estig ial ▁feature , ▁typically ▁. ▁We ight ▁increases ▁from ▁around ▁ ▁at ▁we an ing ▁to ▁> ▁ ▁in ▁ad ul th ood . ▁The ▁maximum ▁recorded ▁weight ▁is ▁ 2 0 0 0   g ▁( 4 . 4   lb ), ▁though ▁few ▁wild ▁spec im ens ▁exceed ▁ 1 , 6 0 0   g ▁( 3 . 5   lb ) ▁even ▁in ▁aut umn . ▁Ad ult ▁summer ▁weight ▁is ▁typically ▁somewhat ▁less ▁than ▁in ▁aut umn , ▁with ▁an ▁average ▁of ▁around ▁ ▁and ▁adult ▁weights ▁commonly ▁as ▁low ▁as ▁. ▁M ales ▁tend ▁to ▁be ▁slightly ▁larger ▁than ▁females , ▁but ▁sex ▁differences ▁in ▁body ▁weight ▁are ▁over shadow ed ▁by ▁enorm ous ▁season al ▁variation . ▁ ▁E . ▁europ ae us ▁is ▁unlike ▁any ▁other ▁creature ▁across ▁most ▁of ▁its ▁range . ▁Where ▁it ▁co - exists ▁with ▁the ▁northern ▁white - bre asted ▁h edge h og ▁( Er in ace us ▁rou man icus ), ▁the ▁two ▁species ▁are