Black Walnut Tree Trivia Black Walnuts, Juglans nigra, grow mainly in the Eastern and Central United States but they occur in moderate numbers nearly everywhere in the U.S. east of the Great Plains, except for New England and south Florida. They grow up to 150 feet with long, straight trunks up to a yard in diameter.
In the 1970s, a gene related to how our brain grows our limbs was given the name âhedgehogâ in relation to the spiky appearance of fruit flies with a defective version of the gene.In 1995, three strains of the âhedgehogâ gene were found and named âDesert-Hedgehogâ, âIndian-Hedgehogâ, and amusingly, âSonic-Hedgehogâ.onic Hedgehog Homolog (SHH) is one of three proteins in the mammalian hedgehog family, the others being desert hedgehog (DHH) and Indian hedgehog (IHH). SHH is the best studied ligand of the hedgehog signaling pathway.
Hedgehogs' spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated porcupines, which are rodents, and echidnas, a type of monotreme. The name hedgehog came into use around the year 1450, derived from the Middle English heyghoge, from heyg, hegge (hedge), because it frequents hedgerows, and hoge, hogge (hog), from its piglike snout.