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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 ( Castor canadensis ).
This porcupine can grow to forty inches long (1 m), but half of that is tail. It weighs about nine pounds (4.1 kg). No spines are found on the tail, which is long (330–485 mm (13.0–19.1 in)). Its feet are reflective of their arboreal lifestyle, well-adapted for gripping branches, with four long-clawed toes on each.
Most porcupines are about 60–90 cm (25–36 in) long, with a 20–25 cm (8–10 in) long tail. Weighing 5–16 kg (12–35 lb), they are rounded, large, and slow, and use an aposematic strategy of defence. Porcupines' colouration consists of various shades of brown, grey and white.
The North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is the only extant species, but at least 4 extinct relatives are known, the oldest dating to the Late Pliocene. [2] Porcupines entered North America during the Great American Interchange after the Isthmus of Panama rose 3 million years ago. [ 3 ]
They vary in size from the relatively small prehensile-tailed porcupines, which are around 30 cm (12 in) long, and weigh about 900 g (32 oz), to the much larger North American porcupine, which has a body length of 86 cm (34 in), and weighs up to 18 kg (40 lb).
Facts About Porcupines. @lesliemiles323 shared, "An albino porcupine!!!...so beautiful!" I didn't even know albino porcupines existed, so I decided to do some research to learn more about them ...
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 wide range, and despite it being used extensively for bushmeat, the International Union for Conservation of ...
The prehensile-tailed porcupines or coendous (genus Coendou) are found in Central and South America. [2] Two other formerly recognized Neotropical tree porcupine genera, Echinoprocta [ 3 ] and Sphiggurus , [ 4 ] have been subsumed into Coendou , since Sphiggurus was shown by genetic studies to be polyphyletic , while Echinoprocta nested within ...