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 infraorder 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 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 60â€"90 cm (25â€"36 in) long, with an 20â€"25 cm (8â€"10 in) long tail. Weighing 5â€"16 kg (12â€"35 lb), they are rounded, large, and slow, and use aposematic strategy of defense. 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.
Etymology
The name "porcupine" comes from Latin porcus pig + spina spine, quill, via Old Italianâ€"Middle Frenchâ€"Middle English. A regional American name for the animal is quill pig.
Evolution
Fossils belonging to the Hystrix genus date back to the late Miocene of Africa.
Species
Taxonomy
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 (2.2Â lb); the crested porcupine found in Italy, Sicily, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa can grow to well over 27Â kg (60Â 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
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 85Â cm or 33Â in in length and 18Â kg or 40Â 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
Porcupines have a relatively high longevity and had held the record for being the longest-living rodent, with one individual living to 27 years, until the record was recently broken by a naked mole-rat living to 28 years.
Diet
The North American porcupine is an 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.
The African porcupine is not a climber and forages on the ground. It is mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day, eating bark, roots, fruits and berries, as well as farm crops. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy.
Quills
Porcupines' quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, 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. 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.
Uses
In nature
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.
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.
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 â€" penetrating the skin and remaining in place. The presence of barbs acting like anchors makes it more painful to remove a quill that has pierced the skin of a predator.
In politics
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 Republican elephant. The porcupine image is often used to represent the U.S. Libertarian party, and even used by some official state Libertarian parties.
Habitat
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 3,700Â m (12,100Â ft) high. They are generally nocturnal, but are occasionally active during daylight.
Classification
Porcupines are distributed into two evolutionarily independent groups within the suborder Hystricomorpha of the Rodentia.
- 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)
- Family Erethizontidae: New World porcupines
- 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
- Superfamily Erethizontoidea
- Family Hystricidae: Old World porcupines
See also
- New World porcupines
- Old World porcupines
References
External links
- 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