Prehensile-tailed porcupine
| Prehensile-tailed porcupines Temporal range: Late Pleistocene to Recent
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| Coendou prehensilis | |
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Coendou
Lacépède, 1799
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Coendou bicolor |
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The prehensile-tailed porcupines or coendous (genus Coendou) are found in Central and South America. They are closely related to the other Neotropical tree porcupines (genera Echinoprocta and Sphiggurus) .[1]
Characteristics
Among the most notable features of Coendou porcupines are their unspined prehensile tails. The front and hind feet are also modified for grasping. These limbs all contribute to making this animal an adept climber, an adaptation to living most of their lives in trees.[1]
They feeds on leaves, shoots, fruits, bark, roots, and buds. They can be pests of plantation crops.[1] They also make a distinctive "baby-like" sound to communicate in the wild.
Young are born with soft hair that hardens to quills with age. Adults are slow-moving and will roll into a ball when threatened and on the ground. The record longevity is 27 years.[2]
Species
- Genus Coendou - prehensile-tailed porcupines[1]
- Bicolored-spined porcupine - C. bicolor
- Black dwarf porcupine - C. nycthemera
- Brazilian porcupine - C. prehensilis
- Andean porcupine - C. quichua
- Rothschild's porcupine - C. rothschildi
- Santa Marta porcupine - C. sanctamartae
- C. speratus - a newly discovered species[3]
- Baturite porcupine - C. baturitensis - a newly discovered species[4][5][6]
Woods & Kilpatrick 2005 argue that although members of the genus Sphiggurus are sometimes included in Coendou, the two are distinct enough to warrant recognition of separate genera.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Nowak 1999
- ↑ Gorbunova, Bozzella & Seluanov 2008
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