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Long-tailed porcupine helps in seed dispersal as they are food hoarders who collect fruits and seeds. [4] Additionally, they feed on the cambium layer, causing the death of the trees which contributes both negatively and positively, positive being that the dead trees create habitats for some bird species. [ 6 ]
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 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 Coendou.
13 Porcupines. 14 Bats. 15 See also. 16 Further reading. 17 Notes. Toggle the table of contents. ... Long-tailed vole, Microtus longicaudus, moist meadows, common;
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.
On a farm in Angola, a “long”-tailed creature scampered across the sand. The speckled animal might have been heading to its burrow or searching for a meal, but that didn’t really matter.
They vary in size from the relatively small long–tailed porcupine with body lengths of 27.9 to 48 cm (11.0 to 18.9 in), and a weight of 1.5 to 2.3 kg (3.3 to 5.1 lb), [2] to the much larger crested porcupines, which are 60 to 83 cm (24 to 33 in) long, discounting the tail, and weigh from 13 to 27 kg (29 to 60 lb). [3]
When porcupines are mating, they tighten their skin and hold their quills flat, so as not to injure each other. Mating may occur repeatedly until the female loses interest and climbs back into the tree. The North American porcupine has a long gestation period relative to other rodents, an average of 202 days. [38]