Nickname/Age:
Quill (Q) 6/5/2010
Porcupines are found in two main regions of the world, so they are grouped by scientists into either Old World porcupines or New World porcupines. Old World porcupines are found in Europe, Africa, and Asia; some examples are the North African crested porcupine Hystrix cristata, African brush-tailed porcupine Atherurus africanus, and Indian crested porcupine Hystrix indica. New World porcupines are found in North, Central, and South America; some examples are the North American porcupine Erethizon dorsatum, Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine Sphiggurus mexicanus, and the Prehensile Tailed Porcupine Coendou prehensilis.

Description:
The prehensile tailed porcupine body length is between 1-2 feet. The dorsal side is covered with short spines. Coloration of dorsal side varies from yellow to black, venter is usually gray. No spines are found on the prehensile tail. Feet are reflective of their arboreal lifestyle, with long-clawed digits.

Habitat/Range:
These porcupines live in forests between 492-8200 feet in elevation (rainforest). They occur both in coastal and Amazonian areas of Peru. Occasionally, this species enters cultivated areas.

This species is broadly distributed from Venezuela south to northern Argentina

Prehensile tailed porcupines are thought to be similar to North American porcupines, in that they tend to have individual territories. Females have exclusive territories, but males often have territories that overlap and may vary widely in size.

Diet in Wild:
The diet is primarily vegetation, including leaves, tender, stems, fruits, blossoms, and roots. They get at the cambium layer of trees by peeling away the bark. They also have been found to raid guava, bananas and corn from plantations.

Porcupines may gnaw on bones to sharpen their teeth and to get salt at the same time.

Diet in Zoo:
yams, bananas, apples, carrots, spinach, kale as well as herbivore pellets.

Predators:
Ocelots, margays, pythons, Eagles, and owls.

Life Cycle/ Social Structure:
New World porcupines spend most of their time alone or in pairs moving through the trees. They may den in tree nests, rock crevices, brush, logs, and in tangled tree roots. All New World porcupines have long, curved claws that are excellent for climbing. The Coendou species of porcupines are equipped with prehensile tails that curl around branches, anchoring them to a tree.

Prehensile-tailed porcupines are nocturnal and arboreal. Vocalizations consist of growls and cries. If caught, these porcupines roll into a ball. The prehensile tail is used to curl around branches when climbing.

There is no breeding season. Gestation lasts 203 days, after which one precocial young is born. Young weigh 415 grams at birth and can climb almost immediately. Weaning occurs after 10 weeks, adult size is reached in less than a year.

Weight: 1.98 to 11 lbs

Life Span: 15 years in the wild, 20 or more years in zoos
Status: Lower Risk

Interesting Facts:

• Porcupines may look awkward on land but they are good swimmers.
• The Latin translation of porcupine is porcus, meaning “pig,” and spina, meaning “thorn.”
• Porcupines tend to grunt when foraging for food.
• The North American porcupine Erethizon dorsatum have over 30,000 quills!
• New World porcupines are also known as tree porcupines.
• They have a great sense of smell
• These herbivores have sharp, chisel-like front teeth.
• When excited, porcupines stamp their hind feet.

The philosopher Aristotle warned of the dangers of getting too close to a porcupine: the quilled beast could "shoot its deadly needlelike darts" over great distances at hunters and dogs alike. After reading this fact sheet, you'll learn that this is not true!

Porcupines cannot shoot their quills! Quills are modified hairs made out of keratin, the same substance found in our own hair and fingernails. Porcupines have muscles at the base of each quill that allow them to stand up when the animal is excited or alarmed. Quills easily detach and can embed in potential predators. Quills are shed, and when the porcupines shake, loose quills can fly off (but without deadly force). Puncture wounds inflicted by porcupines are very serious.

Old World crested porcupines have back quills that can stand up into a crest. Each quill is boldly marked with black and white bands. Some quills can be up to 20 inches long. These long, pliable quills act as guard hairs and form a "skirt." When threatened, the skirt can be erected, making the porcupine appear two to three times bigger. Smaller, rigid quills that are 8 inches long are densely packed over the rump and back. These are used to stab any potential threat. At the base of the tail, crested porcupines have blunt, hollow quills that rattle when shaken, serving as a warning to potential predators. If the noise doesn't work, the porcupine may try to charge backwards into the predator.

The quills of a New World porcupine are smaller but have barbs that snag the flesh, keeping the quill stuck in the enemy's skin.

Porcupine babies, called porcupettes, are not born with sharp or barbed quills. Instead, the porcupette's quills are soft and bendable, gradually hardening in the first few days after birth.

One porcupine predator, the fisher, is able to flip the North American porcupine onto its back, exposing its unprotected belly. In fact, the fisher has been reintroduced to some areas of North America in hopes of bringing destructive populations of porcupines under control.

Bibliography
Bartos, Christine. Husbandry Standards for Keeping Porcupines in Captivity, Baltimore Zoo

http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/
Coendou_prehensilis.html

http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/5085/0