The tail is hairy. The members of this family have five digits on each foot, except for some forms of Atelerix, which have only four digits on the hind foot. Gymnures and hedgehogs walk on the sole, with the heel touching the ground. The two lower bones of the hind limb, the tibia and fibula, are united. The urogenital opening in the females is well separated from the anus.
Females have two to five pairs of mammae.
The penis is directed anteriorly and is partly pendulous from the abdomen. The first incisor is usually larger than the others. The upper molars have four main cusps and a small, slender median cusp. The skull varies from narrow and elongate to short and broad, and the braincase is small. These animals shelter in and under logs, among rocks, under the roots of trees and brush piles, in termite mounds, and in burrows.