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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 ).
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]
The word porcupine comes from the Latin porcus ' pig ' + spina ' spine, quill ', from Old Italian porcospino, ' thorn-pig '. [4] [5] A regional American name for the animal is quill-pig. [6] A baby porcupine is a porcupette. When born, a porcupette's quills are soft hair; they harden within a few days, forming the sharp quills of adults. [7]
Erethizontinae is a subfamily of the New World porcupine family Erethizontidae, [1] and includes all species of the family with the exception of the bristle-spined rat, Chaetomys subspinosus, which is classified in its own subfamily, Chaetomyinae.
The genus name means "lizard born from fire" from Tupi ara "born" and atá "fire," and Greek saurus "lizard". The name refers to the National Museum of Brazil fire, which the holotype survived unscathed. The species name also is the Portuguese name of the museum. [23] Aratinga: parakeet: Tupi
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).
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Common name Scientific name Status Distribution Virginia opossum: Didelphis virginiana: Common, Introduced, Harvest ... North American porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum;