Porcupine

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This article is about the mammal. For other uses, see Porcupine (disambiguation).

Porcupine

North American porcupine

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Rodentia

Suborder: Hystricomorpha

Infraorder: Hystricognathi (part)

 Families

Hystricidae (Old World

porcupines)
Erethizontidae (New World
porcupines)

Porcupines are rodentian mammals with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that protect against
predators. The term covers two families of animals, the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae,
and the New World porcupines of family Erethizontidae. Both families belong to the
clade Hystricognathi within the profoundly diverse order Rodentia and display superficially similar
coats of quills: despite this, the two groups are distinct from each other and are not closely related to
each other within the Hystricognathi.
The Old World porcupines live in southern Europe, Asia (western[1] and southern), and most
of Africa. They are large, terrestrial, and strictly nocturnal. In taxonomic terms, they form the family
Hystricidae.
The New World porcupines are indigenous to North America and northern South America. They live
in wooded areas and can climb trees, where some species spend their entire lives. They are less
strictly nocturnal than their Old World relatives, and generally smaller. In taxonomic terms, they form
the family Erethizontidae.
Porcupines are the third-largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most
porcupines are about 6090 cm (2536 in) long, with an 2025 cm (810 in) long tail.
[dubious discuss]
Weighing 516 kg (1235 lb), they are rounded, large, and slow. Porcupines occur in
various shades of brown, gray, and white. Porcupines' spiny protection resembles that of the
unrelated erinaceomorph hedgehogs and Australian spiny anteaters or monotreme echidnas.

Contents
[hide]

1Etymology

2Evolution

3Species

o 3.1Taxonomy

o 3.2Old World compared with New World species

o 3.3Longevity

o 3.4Diet

o 3.5Quills

4Uses
 o 4.1In nature

o 4.2In politics

o 4.3State symbols

5Habitat

6Classification

7See also

8References

9External links

Etymology[edit]
The name "porcupine" comes from Latin porcus pig + spina spine, quill, via Old ItalianMiddle
FrenchMiddle English.[2] A regional American name for the animal is quill pig.[3] Similarly, the
German name, Stachelschwein, means "thorn-swine" and the Afrikaans name, ystervark, means
"iron pig".

Evolution[edit]
Fossils belonging to the Hystrix genus date back to the late Miocene of Africa.[4]

Species[edit]
Old World porcupine

Taxonomy[edit]
A porcupine is any of 29 species of rodents belonging to the
families Erethizontidae (genera: Coendou, Erethizon, 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);
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.
Old World compared with New World species[edit]
The 11 Old World porcupines tend to be fairly large, and have spikes grouped in clusters.
The two subfamilies of New World porcupines are mostly smaller (although the North American
porcupine reaches about 85 cm or 33 in in length and 18 kg or 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 rodents than they are to the Old World
porcupines.
Longevity[edit]
Porcupines have a relatively high longevity and had held the record for being the longest-living
rodent, with one individual living to 27 years,[5] until the record was recently broken by a naked mole-
rat living to 28 years.[6]
Diet[edit]
The North American porcupine is a herbivore; it eats leaves, herbs, twigs, and green plants such
as clover. In the winter, it may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food. [7]
The African porcupine is not a climber and forages on the ground. [7] It is mostly nocturnal,[8] but will
sometimes forage for food in the day. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a
delicacy.[9]
Quills[edit]

Quills grow 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,[10] and embedded in the skin musculature. Old World
porcupines have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines, single quills are
interspersed with bristles, underfur, and hair.
Quills are released by contact or may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body. New quills grow
to replace lost ones.[10]Porcupines were long believed to have the ability to project their quills to a
considerable distance at an enemy, but this has since been proven to be untrue. [11][12]

Uses[edit]
In nature[edit]
Porcupine guardhair headdress made by native peoples from Sonora displayed at the Museo de Arte
Popular in Mexico City

Porcupines are only 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.[13][14][15]
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. The main
quills may be dyed, and then applied in combination with thread to embellish leather accessories
such as knife sheaths and leather bags. Lakota women would harvest the quills for quillwork by
throwing a blanket over a porcupine and retrieving the quills it left stuck in the blanket. [16]
Porcupine quills have recently inspired a new type of hypodermic needle. Due to backward-facing
barbs on the quills, when used as needles, they are particularly good at two things penetrating the
skin and remaining in place.[17] The presence of barbs acting like anchors makes it more painful to
remove a quill that has pierced the skin of predator.[10]
In politics[edit]

The Libertarian porcupine

In 2006, Kevin Breen created a political mascot, a porcupine similar to the animals that represent the
two major political parties in the United States; the Democratic Party donkey and
the Republicanelephant. The porcupine image is often used to represent the U.S. Libertarian party,
and even used by some official state Libertarian parties.[18]
State symbols[edit]
The Ashanti state of present-day Ghana used the porcupine as the state symbol since its founding.
[19]
The native word for the porcupine in Asanti-Twi is kotoko, which literally means "bend and fight". It
refers to the ability of the porcupine to bend and attack its attackers with quills from different angles
without losing ground or allowing the enemy to subdue it.[20] This became a military philosophy the
Ashanti state adopted which culminated in the use if many military units that attacked from different
angles in war. Also, Ashanti warriors were known for crawling on their bellies during gun exchanges
as a means of gaining a tactical advantage over their opponents on guerrilla maneuverings. The
official state soccer team of Ashanti is called Asante Kotoko and it is nicknamed the Porcupine
Warriors.[21] The club's emblem is the porcupine which symbolizes the history of the Ashanti state.

Habitat[edit]
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. They live in forests and deserts, and on 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. They are
generally nocturnal, but are occasionally active during daylight.

Hunting porcupine near the town of Cassem, The Book of Wonders by Marco Polo (first book), illumination
stored at the French national library (manuscript 2810)

Classification[edit]

North American porcupine

North American porcupine eating grass and clover

Porcupines are distributed into two evolutionarily independent groups within the
suborder Hystricomorpha of the Rodentia.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]

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

Thick-spined porcupine, Hystrix (Thecurus) crassispinis

Philippine porcupine, Hystrix (Thecurus) pumilis

Long-tailed porcupine, Trichys fasciculata

Parvorder Phiomorpha sensu stricto

Family Thryonomyidae: cane rats

Family Petromuridae: Dassie rats

 Family Bathyergidae: African mole-rats

Parvorder Caviomorpha

Superfamily Erethizontoidea

Family Erethizontidae: New World porcupines

Brazilian porcupine, Coendou prehensilis

Bicolored-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 hairy dwarf porcupine, Coendou

mexicanus

Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine, Coendou

spinosus

Bahia porcupine, Coendou insidiosus

Brown hairy dwarf porcupine, Coendou vestitus

Streaked dwarf porcupine, Coendou ichillus

Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine, Coendou

melanurus

Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine, Coendou

roosmalenorum

Frosted hairy dwarf porcupine, Coendou pruinosus

Stump-tailed porcupine, Coendou rufescens

North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum

Bristle-spined porcupine, Chaetomys

subspinosus (sometimes considered an echimyid)
 Superfamily Cavioidea

Family Hydrochaeridae: capybara

Family Caviidae: Guinea-pigs

Family Dasyproctidae: agoutis and acouchis

Superfamily Octodontoidea

Family Abrocomidae: chinchilla-rats

Family Octodontidae: degus

Family Ctenomyidae: tuco-tucos

Family Echimyidae: spiny rats

Family Myocastoridae: nutrias

Family Capromyidae: hutias

Superfamily Chinchilloidea

Family Chinchillidae: chinchillas and allies

Family Dinomyidae: pacaranas

See also[edit]
New World porcupines

Old World porcupines

References[edit]
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3. Jump up^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "quill" . Retrieved July 20,
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4. Jump up^ Barthelmess, E.L. (2006). "Hystix

africaeaustralis". Mammalian Species. 788 (788): 1
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9. Jump up^ "Porcupines raise thorny questions in Kenya". BBC News.

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External links[edit]
Find more aboutPorcupineat Wikipedia's sister projects

Definitions from Wiktionary

Media from Commons

Quotations from Wikiquote

Taxonomy from Wikispecies

Wildlife Conservation: Porcupine African Wildlife Foundation

"Resource Cards: What About Porcupines?" Pacific Northwest

National Laboratory

Porcupine control in the western states University of North Texas

Digital Library

The Complete Resource To Keeping Porcupines As Pets

Categories:
Porcupines
Body plans
Hystricognath rodents
Rodents by common name

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