The brush-tailed porcupines are a genus, ''Atherurus'', of

Old World porcupine The Old World porcupines, or Hystricidae, are large terrestrial rodents, distinguished by the spiny covering from which they take their name. They range over the south of Europe and the Levant, most of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia as far ea ...

s found in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Characteristics

The brush-tailed porcupines have bodies covered in quills like their New World relatives. These quills are shorter and not as visually prominent as those seen in the genus '' Hystrix'', but considerably more so than in '' Trichys''. They have a prominent tuft on the tip of their tails which leads to their common name. The tail breaks off easily when the animal is threatened. Their bodies are long and somewhat rat-like. They are

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

dwellers and nocturnal, and feed on vegetation, but may take

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s or carrion. The animals may live in social groups usually numbering six to eight. The longevity record for a captive animal was almost 23 years. Due to their small size (the typical brush-tailed porcupine weighs about 3 kg), it is a popular bushmeat to the urban and rural residents of Gabon, Nigeria, Cameroon or Congo.

Species

The two species of ''Atherurus'', an Asian and an African variety, are: *''A. africanus'' –

African brush-tailed porcupine The African brush-tailed porcupine (''Atherurus africanus'') is a species of rat-like Old World porcupine, indigenous to a broad belt of Africa ranging from Guinea on the west coast to Kenya on the east. This is a common species with a very wi ...

*''A. macrourus'' –

Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine The Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (''Atherurus macrourus'') is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. It is found in China, Bhutan, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Taxonomy The synonyms of this species are ''At ...

Predators

The brush-tailed porcupine has many native predators: leopards, large raptors and snakes; however, humans are their most prominent and constant predators. The brush-tailed porcupine is hunted in such large quantities, many in those areas fear that it is no longer a sustainable option.

References

*Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp. *Jori, F., Lopez-béjar, M. & Houben, P. The biology and use of the African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus, Gray, 1842)as a food animal. A review. ''Biodiversity and Conservation'' 7, 1417–1426 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008853113835 {{Taxonbar, from=Q780143 Erethizontidae Taxa named by Frédéric Cuvier