Porcupine

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Species

Old World porcupine

A porcupine is any of 27 species of rodent belonging to the families Erethizontidae or Hystricidae. Porcupines vary in size considerably: Rothschild's Porcupine of South America weighs less than a kilogram (2.2 lb (1.00 kg)); the African Porcupine can grow to well over 10 kg (22 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 are almost exclusively terrestrial, tend to be fairly large, and have quills that are grouped in clusters. They are believed to have separated from the other hystricognaths about 30 million years ago, much earlier than the New World porcupines. telescopic pole

The twelve 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, which was recently broken by the Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber). stock lapel pins

Quills telescopic poles

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, contrary to popular belief. New quills grow to replace lost ones.

Habitat

Bronze cannon of Louis XII of France, with porcupine emblem. Caliber: 172mm, length: 305cm, weight: 1870kg. Recovered in Algiers in 1830. Muse de l'Arme.

Porcupines occupy a wide range of habitats in tropical and temperate parts of Asia, Italy, Africa, and North and South America. Porcupines live in forests, deserts, rocky outcrops, hillsides and grasslands. Some New World porcupines live in trees, but Old World porcupines stay on the ground. Porcupines can be found on rocky areas up to 3,700 m (12,000 ft) high. Porcupines are nocturnal.

Salt licks

Porcupines in search of salt sometimes encroach on human habitats, eating plywood cured with sodium nitrate, certain paints, tool handles, 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.

Miscellany

From ancient times, it was believed that porcupines can throw their quills at an enemy. This has long been refuted, being the result of loose quills being shaken free.

Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy.

Classification

A North American porcupine foraging for grubs in the grass

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

Himalayan Porcupine, Hystrix hodgsoni

Indian Porcupine, Hystrix indicus

Malayan Porcupine, Hystrix brachyura

Sunda Porcupine, Hystrix javanica

Sumatran Porcupine, Hystrix sumatrae

Bornean Porcupine, Thecurus crassispinis

Philippine Porcupine, 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

Koopman's Porcupine, Coendou koopmani

Rothschild's Porcupine, Coendou rothschildi

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

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

^ Parker, SB (1990) Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, vol. 4, McGraw-Hill, New York.[page needed]

^ Buffenstein, Rochelle; Jarvis, Jennifer U. M. (May 2002). "The naked mole rat--a new record for the oldest living rodent". Science of aging knowledge environment 2002 (21): pe7. doi:10.1126/sageke.2002.21.pe7. PMID 14602989. 

^ Morrisson, Philip; Morrisson, Phyllis (March 2001). "Wonders: The Needy Porcupine". Scientific American. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000B3425-FD09-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21. Retrieved 29 June 2007. 

^ Olson, Rich; Andrea M. Lewis (May 1999) (PDF). Porcupine Ecology and Damage Management Techniques for Rural Homeowners. University of Wyoming, Cooperative Extension Service. p. 4. http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/B1073.pdf. Retrieved 29 June 2007. 

^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1823 Edition. Page 501. Google Book Search

^ Goodwin, Thomas Shepard. Natural History, a Manual of Zoology. New York, 1865. Page 78. Google Book Search

^ "Porcupines raise thorny questions in Kenya". BBC News. August 19, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4157330.stm. Retrieved September 21, 2009. 

External links

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

Categories: Rodents | Hystricognath rodents | PorcupinesHidden categories: Wikipedia articles needing page number citations | Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters