Porcupine
North American Porcupine
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Suborder:	Hystricomorpha Brandt, 1855

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend and camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about 25–36 in (63–91 cm) long, with an 8–10 in (20–25 cm) long tail. Weighing between 12–35 lb (5.4–16 kg), they are rounded, large and slow. Porcupines come in various shades of brown, grey, and the unusual white. Porcupines' spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated erinaceomorph hedgehogs and monotreme echidnas.

The common porcupine is an herbivore. It eats leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants like skunk cabbage and clover and in the winter it may eat bark. The North American porcupine often climbs trees to find food. The African porcupine is not a climber and forages on the ground. ^[1] It is mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy.^[2]

The name porcupine comes from Middle French porc epic (spined pig).^[3] A regional American name for the animal is quill pig.^[4]

Species[link]

Old World porcupine

A porcupine is any of 29 species of rodent belonging to the families Erethizontidae (genera: Coendou, Sphiggurus, Erethizon, Echinoprocta, and Chaetomys) or Hystricidae (genera: Atherurus, Hystrix, and Trichys). Porcupines vary in size considerably: Rothschild's Porcupine of South America weighs less than a kilogram (2.2 lb (1.00 kg)); the Crested porcupine found in Italy, Sicily, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa can grow to well over 27 kg (60 lb). The two families of porcupines are quite different, and, although both belong to the Hystricognathi branch of the vast order Rodentia, they are not closely related.

The eleven Old World porcupines tend to be fairly big, and have spikes that are grouped in clusters.

The two subfamilies of New World porcupines are mostly smaller (although the North American Porcupine reaches about 85 cm/33 in in length and 18 kg/40 lb), have their quills attached singly rather than grouped in clusters, and are excellent climbers, spending much of their time in trees. The New World porcupines evolved their spines independently (through convergent evolution) and are more closely related to several other families of rodent than they are to the Old World porcupines. Porcupines have a relatively high longevity and had held the record for being the longest-living rodent,^[5] which was recently broken by the Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber).^[6]

Quills[link]

Quills come in varying lengths and colors, depending on the animal's age and species.

Porcupines' quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and they are embedded in the skin musculature. Old World porcupines (Hystricidae) have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines (Erethizontidae), single quills are interspersed with bristles, underfur and hair.

Quills are released by contact with them, or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body, but cannot be projected at attackers. New quills grow to replace lost ones. From ancient times, it was believed that porcupines could throw their quills at an enemy, but this has long been refuted.^[7][8]

Uses[link]

Porcupines are occasionally eaten in western culture, but are very popular in Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam, where the prominent use of them as a food source has contributed to significant declines in their populations.^[9][10]

More commonly, their quills and guardhairs are used for traditional decorative clothing. For example, their guardhairs are used in the creation of the Native American "porky roach" headdress.

Habitat[link]

A pair of North American porcupines in their habitat in Quebec

Porcupines occupy a short range of habitats in tropical and temperate parts of Asia, Southern Europe, Africa, and North and South America. Porcupines live in forests, deserts, rocky outcrops and hillsides. Some New World porcupines live in trees, but Old World porcupines stay on the rocks. Porcupines can be found on rocky areas up to 3,700 m (12,100 ft) high. Porcupines are generally nocturnal but are occasionally active during daylight.

Salt licks[link]

Porcupines in search of salt sometimes enter human habitats, eating plywood cured with sodium nitrate,^[11] certain paints, tool handles, doors, tables, houses, footwear, clothes and other items that have been coated in salty sweat. Porcupines are attracted to roads in areas where rock salt is used to melt ice and snow and are known to gnaw on vehicle tires or wiring coated in road salt. Salt licks placed nearby can prevent porcupines from injuring themselves.

Natural sources of salt consumed by porcupines include varieties of salt-rich plants (such as yellow water lily and aquatic liverwort), fresh animal bones, outer tree bark, mud in salt-rich soils, and objects imbued with urine.^[12]

Classification[link]

A North American porcupine

North American porcupine eating grass and clover

Order Rodentia

• Suborder Hystricomorpha
  • Infraorder Hystricognathi
    • Family Hystricidae: Old World porcupines
      • African Brush-tailed Porcupine, Atherurus africanus
      • Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine, Atherurus macrourus
      • Crested Porcupine, Hystrix cristata
      • Cape Porcupine, Hystrix africaeaustralis
      • Indian Porcupine, Hystrix indicus
      • Malayan Porcupine, Hystrix brachyura
        • Himalayan Porcupine, Hystrix (brachyura) hodgsoni
      • Sunda Porcupine, Hystrix javanica
      • Sumatran Porcupine, Hystrix (Thecurus) sumatrae
      • Bornean Porcupine, Hystric (Thecurus) crassispinis
      • Philippine Porcupine, Hystrix (Thecurus) pumilis
      • Long-tailed Porcupine, Trichys fasciculata
    • Family Thryonomyidae: cane rats
    • Family Petromuridae: Dassie Rat
    • Family Bathyergidae: African mole-rats
    • Family Hydrochaeridae: capybara
    • Family Caviidae: cavies
    • Family Dasyproctidae: agoutis and acouchis
    • Family Erethizontidae: New World porcupines
      • Brazilian Porcupine, Coendou prehensilis
      • Bicolor-spined Porcupine, Coendou bicolor
      • Andean Porcupine, Coendou quichua
      • Black Dwarf (Koopman's) Porcupine, Coendou nycthemera (koopmani)
      • Rothschild's Porcupine, Coendou rothschildi
      • Santa Marta Porcupine, Coendou sanctemartae
      • Mexican Tree Porcupine, Sphiggurus mexicanus
      • South American Tree Porcupine, Sphiggurus spinosus
      • Bahia Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus insidiosus
      • Brown Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus vestitus
      • Orange-spined Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus villosus
      • Streaked Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus ichillus
      • Black-tailed Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus melanurus
      • Roosmalen's Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus roosmalenorum
      • Frosted Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Sphiggurus pruinosus
      • North American Porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum
      • Stump-tailed Porcupine, Echinoprocta rufescens
      • Bristle-spined Porcupine, Chaetomys subspinosus (sometimes considered an echymid)
    • Family Chinchillidae: chinchillas and allies
    • Family Ctenomyidae: tuco-tucos
    • Family Myocastoridae: Coypu
    • Family Octodontidae: octodonts
    • Family Ctenodactylidae: gundis

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Look up porcupine in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hystricidae

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Porcupine

• Porcupines: Wildlife summary from the African Wildlife Foundation
• "Resource Cards: What About Porcupines?" Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Porcupine control in the western states hosted by the UNT Government Documents Department
• Porcupine Tracks: How to identify porcupine tracks in the wild