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More About Porcupines ...
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The porcupine is a rodent known for its coat of sharp spines, or quills that defend it from predators. The porcupine is the second largest rodent, after the beaver. Most porcupines are about 63 to 91 cm (25 to 36 inches) long, with an 20- to 25- cm (8- to 10-inch) long tail. Weighing between 5.4 and 16 kg (12 and 35 pounds), they are rounded, large, and slow. Porcupines come in various shades of brown and the unusual white. The name "porcupine" comes from combining the Latin for pig and French for spine, hence the nickname "quill pig" for the animal.
The porcupine's chief defense is its quills, sharp spines distributed across the rodent's back, sides, legs, tail, and head. They may be as dense as 150 per square inch, giving one animal as many as 30,000 quills. Porcupines do not throw their quills; unfortunate attackers approach closely enough to be swatted by the tail or brush against the animal. Like the related ordinary hairs, porcupine quills grow back when they come out.
Porcupines occupy a wide range of habitats in tropical and temperate parts of Asia, Italy, Africa and the Americas. Porcupines live in forests, deserts, and grassland. Some live in trees, others stay on the ground.
Porcupines in search of sodium sometimes encroach on areas inhabited by people and eat tool handles, clothes, and other items that have been coated in salty sweat.
A porcupine is any of 23 species of rodent belonging to the families Erethizontidae and Hystricidae. All defend themselves with sharp spines (which are actually modified hairs) rather like those of the hedgehogs, which are part of the order Insectivora and more closely related to shrews and moles than they are to the rodents, and the echidnas, which as monotremes are very distantly related indeed.
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Taxonmony
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Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Erethizontidae
Hystricidae
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Source: Wikipedia Read more about Porcupines
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INFO LINKS
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North American Porcupine
Canadian Wildlife Services
Site contains inforjmation on appearance, habits, diet, relationships to people, limits of population of the porcupine Read More
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Porcupine
National Geographic
Porcupine fact sheet and pictures; audio clip Read More
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Porcupine
The Living Schoolbook - The Cyberzoo project
"The porcupine lives in the forests of North America". Information on niche, habitat, adaptations, environmental change, etc. Read More
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Porcupine
Animal Tracks of Humboldt County
Natural History of Porcupine, Identifying Porcupine tracks. "Porcupines are nocturnal vegetarians, but can be active by day". Read More
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Crested Porcupine
Honolulu Zoo
Crested Porcupine. "The North African crested porcupine is the largest porcupine on earth". Read More
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Common Porcupine
Calgary's Weaselhead Society
Species profile for Common Porcupine Read More
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Porcupine
African Wildlife Foundation
Detailed fact sheet Read More
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Prehensile-tailed Porcupine
National Zoo
Prehensile-tailed Porcupine fact sheet Read More
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Porcupine
SafariCamLive.com - African Wildlife to the World
Porcupine Read More
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Porcupine
Sedgwick County Zoo
Information on diet, behavior, etc. Read More
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Prehensile Porcupine
Animals Of The Rainforest
Brief description, taxonomic information, pictures, and links Read More
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North American Porcupine
Desert USA
North American Porcupine: Brief description and pictures Read More
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Porcupine
Wind Cave National Park
Fact Sheet Read More
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Porcupine
bcadventure.com
Brief description of Porcupine Read More
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Mexican Porcupine
Houston Zoo
About Mexican Porcupine Read More
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North American Porcupine
Houston Zoo
About North American Porcupine Read More
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North American Porcupine
Southwest Wildlife
Information on different aspects like locomotion, sense, communication, habits, defense, diet, range, family life etc Read More
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