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Porcupine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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This article is about the mammal. For other uses, see Porcupine (disambiguation).
Porcupine

North American Porcupine
Scientific classification [ e ]
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Hystricomorpha
Brandt, 1855

Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflages them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about 25–36 in (63–91 cm) long, with an 8–10 in (20–25 cm) long tail. Weighing between 12–35 lb (5.4–16 kg), they are rounded, large and slow. Porcupines come in various shades of brown, grey, and the unusual white. Porcupines' spiny protection resembles that of the unrelated erinaceomorph hedgehogs and monotreme echidnas.

The common porcupine is an herbivore. It eats leaves, herbs, twigs and green plants like skunk cabbage and clover and in the winter it may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food. It is mostly nocturnal, but will sometimes forage for food in the day. Porcupines have become a pest in Kenya and are eaten as a delicacy.[1]

The name porcupine comes from Middle French porc espin (spined pig).[2] A regional American name for the animal is quill pig.[3]

Contents

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[edit] Species

A porcupine is any of 29 species of rodent belonging to the families Erethizontidae (genera: Coendou, Sphiggurus, Erethizon, Echinoprocta, and Chaetomys) or Hystricidae (genera: Atherurus, Hystrix, and Trichys). Porcupines vary in size considerably: Rothschild's Porcupine of South America weighs less than a kilogram (2.2 lb (1.00 kg)); the Crested porcupine found in Italy, Sicily, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa can grow to well over 27 kg (60 lb). The two families of porcupines are quite different, and, although both belong to the Hystricognathi branch of the vast order Rodentia, they are not closely related.

The eleven Old World porcupines tend to be fairly big, and have spikes that are grouped in clusters.

The two subfamilies of New World porcupines are mostly smaller (although the North American Porcupine reaches about 85 cm/33 in in length and 18 kg/40 lb), have their quills attached singly rather than grouped in clusters, and are excellent climbers, spending much of their time in trees. The New World porcupines evolved their spines independently (through convergent evolution) and are more closely related to several other families of rodent than they are to the Old World porcupines. Porcupines have a relatively high longevity and had held the record for being the longest-living rodent,[4] which was recently broken by the Naked Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber).[5]

[edit] Quills

Quills come in varying lengths and colors, depending on the animal's age and species.

Porcupines' quills, or spines, take on various forms, depending on the species, but all are modified hairs coated with thick plates of keratin, and they are embedded in the skin musculature. Old World porcupines (Hystricidae) have quills embedded in clusters, whereas in New World porcupines (Erethizontidae), single quills are interspersed with bristles, underfur, and hair.

Quills are released by contact with them, or they may drop out when the porcupine shakes its body, but cannot be projected at attackers. New quills grow to replace lost ones. From ancient times, it was believed that porcupines could throw their quills at an enemy, but this has long been refuted.[6][7]

[edit] Habitat

A pair of North American porcupines in their habitat in Quebec

Porcupines occupy a short range of habitats in tropical and temperate parts of Asia, Southern Europe, Africa, and North and South America. Porcupines live in forests, deserts, rocky outcrops, hillsides and grasssides. Some New World porcupines live in trees, but Old World porcupines stay on the rocks. Porcupines can be found on rocky areas up to 3,700 m (12,100 ft) high. Porcupines are generally nocturnal but are occasionally active during daylight.

[edit] Salt licks

Porcupines in search of salt sometimes encroach on human habitats, eating plywood cured with sodium nitrate,[8] certain paints, tool handles, doors, tables, houses, footwear, clothes and other items that have been coated in salty sweat. Porcupines are attracted to roads in areas where rock salt is used to melt ice and snow and are known to gnaw on vehicle tires or wiring coated in road salt. Salt licks placed nearby can prevent porcupines from injuring themselves.

Natural sources of salt consumed by porcupines include varieties of salt-rich plants (such as yellow water lily and aquatic liverwort), fresh animal bones, outer tree bark, mud in salt-rich soils, and objects imbued with urine.[9]

[edit] Classification

A North American porcupine

Order Rodentia

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Porcupines raise thorny questions in Kenya". BBC News. August 19, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4157330.stm. Retrieved September 21, 2009. 
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, s.v. "porcupine" . Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "quill" . Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  4. ^ Parker, SB (1990) Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals, vol. 4, McGraw-Hill, New York.[page needed]
  5. ^ Buffenstein, Rochelle; Jarvis, Jennifer U. M. (May 2002). "The naked mole rat--a new record for the oldest living rodent". Science of aging knowledge environment 2002 (21): pe7. doi:10.1126/sageke.2002.21.pe7. PMID 14602989. 
  6. ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1823 Edition. Page 501. Google Book Search
  7. ^ Goodwin, Thomas Shepard. Natural History, a Manual of Zoology. New York, 1865. Page 78. Google Book Search
  8. ^ Morrisson, Philip; Morrisson, Phyllis (March 2001). "Wonders: The Needy Porcupine". Scientific American. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000B3425-FD09-1C70-84A9809EC588EF21. Retrieved 29 June 2007. 
  9. ^ Olson, Rich; Andrea M. Lewis (May 1999) (PDF). Porcupine Ecology and Damage Management Techniques for Rural Homeowners. University of Wyoming, Cooperative Extension Service. p. 4. http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/B1073.pdf. Retrieved 29 June 2007. 

[edit] External links

Look up porcupine in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hystricidae
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Porcupine

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