The New World porcupines, family Erethizontidae, are large
arboreal
Arboreal locomotion is the Animal locomotion, locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally, but others are exclusively arboreal. Th ...
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s, distinguished by their
spiny coverings from which they take their name. They inhabit
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' ...
s and wooded regions across North America, and into northern South America. Although both the New World and
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 ...
families belong to the
Hystricognathi
The Hystricognathi are an infraorder of rodents, distinguished from other rodents by the bone structure of their skull
The skull is a bone protective cavity for the brain. The skull is composed of four types of bone i.e., cranial bones, fa ...
branch of the vast
order Rodentia, they are quite different and are not closely related.
Characteristics
New World porcupines are stout animals, with blunt, rounded heads, fleshy, mobile snouts, and coats of thick, cylindrical or flattened spines. The "quills" are mixed with long, soft hairs. They vary in size from the relatively small
prehensile-tailed porcupine
The prehensile-tailed porcupines or coendous (genus ''Coendou'') are found in Central and South America. Two other formerly recognized Neotropical tree porcupine genera, ''Echinoprocta'' and ''Sphiggurus'', have been subsumed into ''Coendou'', si ...
s, which are around long, and weigh about , to the much larger
North American porcupine
The North American porcupine (''Erethizon dorsatum''), also known as the Canadian porcupine, is a large quill-covered rodent in the New World porcupine family. It is the second largest rodent in North America, after the North American beaver ('' ...
, which has a body length of , and weighs up to .
They are distinguished from the Old World porcupines in that they have rooted
molars, complete collar bones, entire upper lips, tuberculated soles, no trace of first front toes, and four teats.
They are less strictly nocturnal than Old World species in their habits, and some types live entirely in trees, while others have dens on the ground. Their long and powerful
prehensile tail
A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and eating food in the trees. If the ta ...
s help them balance when they are in the tree tops. Their diets consist mainly of bark, leaves, and conifer needles, but can also include roots, stems, berries, fruits, seeds, nuts, grasses, and flowers. Some species also eat insects and small reptiles. Their teeth are similar to those of Old World porcupines, with the
dental formula
Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...
Solitary offspring (or, rarely, twins) are born after a gestation period of up to 210 days, depending on the species. The young are born fully developed, with open eyes, and are able to climb trees within a few days of birth.
[
]
Genera and species
They include three genera, of which the first is represented by the North American porcupine (''Erethizon dorsatum''), a stout, heavily built animal, with long hairs almost or quite hiding its spines, four front and five hind toes, and a short, stumpy tail. It is a native of the greater part of Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, where any remnant of the original forest is left.
The tree porcupines ('' Coendou'') contain 17 species. They are found throughout tropical South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
, with two extending into Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. They are of a lighter build than the ground porcupines, with short, close, many-coloured spines, often mixed with hairs, and prehensile tails. The hind feet have only four toes, owing to the suppression of the first, in place of which they have a fleshy pad on the inner side of the foot; between this pad and the toes, branches and other objects can be firmly grasped as with a hand. These three genera are often united into a single genus ''Coendou''.
Genus ''Chaetomys'', distinguished by the shape of its skull and the greater complexity of its teeth, contains ''C. subspinosus'', a native of the hottest parts of Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. This animal is often considered a member of Echimyidae
Echimyidae is the family of neotropical spiny rats and their fossil relatives. This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terr ...
on the basis of its premolar
The premolars, also called premolar teeth, or bicuspids, are transitional teeth located between the canine and molar teeth. In humans, there are two premolars per quadrant in the permanent set of teeth, making eight premolars total in the mouth ...
s. However, a molecular phylogeny
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
based on the mitochondrial
A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...
gene coding for cytochrome b
Cytochrome b within both molecular and cell biology, is a protein found in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells. It functions as part of the electron transport chain and is the main subunit of transmembrane cytochrome bc1 and b6f complexes.
F ...
combined to karyological evidence actually suggests the bristle-spined rat
The bristle-spined rat (''Chaetomys subspinosus'') is an arboreal rodent from the Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil. Also known as the bristle-spined porcupine or thin-spined porcupine, it is the only member of the genus ''Chaetomys'' and the ...
is more closely related to the Erethizontidae than to the Echimyidae, and is the sister group of all other Erethizontidae.
Classification
;Extant genera and species
* Family Erethizontidae
** Subfamily Chaetomyinae
*** Genus ''Chaetomys''
**** Bristle-spined rat
The bristle-spined rat (''Chaetomys subspinosus'') is an arboreal rodent from the Atlantic forest in eastern Brazil. Also known as the bristle-spined porcupine or thin-spined porcupine, it is the only member of the genus ''Chaetomys'' and the ...
''C. subspinosus''
** Subfamily Erethizontinae
*** Genus ''Coendou'' – prehensile-tailed porcupine
The prehensile-tailed porcupines or coendous (genus ''Coendou'') are found in Central and South America. Two other formerly recognized Neotropical tree porcupine genera, ''Echinoprocta'' and ''Sphiggurus'', have been subsumed into ''Coendou'', si ...
s
**** Baturite porcupine - ''C. baturitensis'' - discovered in 2013
**** Bicolored-spined porcupine
The bicolored-spined porcupine (''Coendou bicolor'') is a species of nocturnal and arboreal rodent in the family Erethizontidae.
It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The head and body of ''Coendou bicolor'' measure about 543& ...
- ''C. bicolor''
**** Streaked dwarf porcupine
The streaked dwarf porcupine (''Coendou ichillus'') is a porcupine species in the family Erethizontidae. It is known from the lowlands (below an altitude of 400 m) of eastern Ecuador, and may be present in Peru as well. It appears to be nocturna ...
- ''C. ichillus''
**** Bahia porcupine
The Bahia porcupine (''Coendou insidiosus''), is a New World porcupine species in the family Erethizontidae endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. It was formerly sometimes assigned to ''Sphiggurus'', a genus no longer recognized ...
- ''C. insidiosus''
**** Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine
The black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine (''Coendou melanurus'') is a porcupine species from the family Erethizontidae. It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.
This species was formerly sometimes a ...
- ''C. melanurus''
**** Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine
The Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine or Mexican tree porcupine (''Coendou mexicanus'') is a species of rodent in the family Erethizontidae. It is found in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, Nicaragua and Belize.Biodiversit ...
- ''C. mexicanus''
**** Black dwarf porcupine
The black dwarf porcupine, also known as Koopman's porcupine (''Coendou nycthemera''), is a porcupine species from the New World porcupine family endemic to northern Brazil. It occurs in the Amazon rainforest east of the Madeira River and south ...
- ''C. nycthemera''
**** Brazilian porcupine
The Brazilian porcupine (''Coendou prehensilis'') is a porcupine found in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, Bolivia and Trinidad, with a single record from Ecuador. It inhabits tropical ...
- ''C. prehensilis''
**** Frosted hairy dwarf porcupine
The frosted hairy dwarf porcupine (''Coendou pruinosus'') is a porcupine species in the family Erethizontidae from Colombia and northern and eastern Venezuela. It was formerly sometimes assigned to ''Sphiggurus'', a genus no longer recognized si ...
- ''C. pruinosus''
**** Andean porcupine
The Andean porcupine (''Coendou quichua'') or Quichua porcupine is a species of rodent in the family Erethizontidae. It is found in the Andes of northern Ecuador and Colombia as well as in Panama. This porcupine is little known, but is probably ...
- ''C. quichua''
**** Rothschild's porcupine
The Andean porcupine (''Coendou quichua'') or Quichua porcupine is a species of rodent in the family Erethizontidae. It is found in the Andes of northern Ecuador and Colombia as well as in Panama. This porcupine is little known, but is probably ...
- ''C. rothschildi''
**** Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine
Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine (''Coendou roosmalenorum'') is a porcupine species from the New World porcupine family likely endemic to northern Brazil. Only three specimens were known at the time, and only one had a collection locality. It is name ...
- ''C. roosmalenorum''
**** Stump-tailed porcupine
The stump-tailed porcupine (''Coendou rufescens'') is a species of rodent in the family Erethizontidae. It is found mainly in Colombia, with a few records from Ecuador.
This species was formerly sometimes assigned to ''Echinoprocta'', a genus n ...
- ''C. rufescens''
**** Santa Marta porcupine
The Santa Marta porcupine (''Coendou sanctamartae'') is a rodent in the family Erethizontidae. It is known from dry forests on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mo ...
- ''C. sanctamartae''
**** Coandumirim - ''C. speratus'' - discovered in 2013
**** Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine
The Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine (''Coendou spinosus'') is a porcupine species from the family Erethizontidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.
They have a short tail and gray brown quills and feed on fruits, ant pu ...
- ''C. spinosus''
**** Brown hairy dwarf porcupine
The brown hairy dwarf porcupine (''Coendou vestitus'') is a species of rodent in the family Erethizontidae. Found in the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is not easy ...
- ''C. vestitus''
*** Genus ''Erethizon''
**** North American porcupine
The North American porcupine (''Erethizon dorsatum''), also known as the Canadian porcupine, is a large quill-covered rodent in the New World porcupine family. It is the second largest rodent in North America, after the North American beaver ('' ...
- ''E. dorsatum''
;Fossil genera
* †'' Branisamyopsis''
* †'' Cholamys''
* †'' Eopululo''
* †'' Hypsosteiromys''
* †'' Microsteiromys''
* †'' Neosteiromys''
* †'' Palaeosteiromys''
* †'' Paradoxomys''
* †'' Parasteiromys''
* †'' Protosteiromys''
References
External links
Erethizontidae
Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition.
{{Authority control
Extant Chattian first appearances
Mammals described in 1845
Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte