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Porcupine are spiny covered rodents.
Porcupine Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Suborder: Hystricomorpha
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Other Names: Hedgehogs, Quill Pigs or
Quillers
Porcupine in Foreign Languages:
Afrikaans: ystervark
Albanian: ferrëgjatë
Armenian: porcupine
Azerbaijani: kirpi
Basque: porcupine
Catalan: porc espí
Croatian: dikobraz
Czech: dikobraz
Danish: hulepindsvin
Dutch: stekelvarken
Estonian: okassiga
Filipino: porkyupayn
Finnish: piikkisika
French: porcépic
Galician: porcoespińo
Georgian: porcupine
German: Stachelschwein
Haitian Creole: epik
Hungarian: tarajos sül
Icelandic: Porcupine
Indonesian: landak
Irish: torcáin
Italian: porcospino
Latvian: dzeloncuka
Lithuanian: dygliakiaule
Macedonia: Porcupine
Malay: landak
Maltese: Porcupine
Norwegian: Porcupine
Polish: jezozwierz
Portugese: porcoespinho
Romanian: porc spinos
Slovak: dikobraz
Slovenian: jeevec
Spanish: puerco espín
Swahili: porcupine
Swedish: piggsvin
Turkish: kirpi
Welsh: porcupine
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Size: Porcupines measure, 25 to 36 inches long
aand have a tail that measures 8 to 10 inches long.
Porcupines weigh 2.5 to 70 lbs. The largest porcupine
is the North African crested porcupine which measures
up to 36 inches long. The smallest porcupine is the
Bahia hairy dwarf porcupine which measures up to 15
inches long.
Habitat: Porcupines are found in North America,
Central America, South America, southern Europe, southern
Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Porcupines inhabit
areas with forests, rocky areas, mountainous area, desert,
rain forest, and prairies.
Description: Porcupines are quill covered rodents
that vary in size depending on the species. Porcupines
have approximately 30,000 quills covering their backs.
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Behavior: Porcupines are nocturnal.
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Did You Know?
A baby porcupine is called a porcupette.
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Senses: Porcupines have a well developed sense
of smell.
Diet: All porcupines are herbivores have sharp,
chisel-like front teeth. Old World porcupines eat bark,
roots, fruits, and berries. In rural areas, they may
eat farmed crops, such as groundnuts, potatoes, pumpkins,
and melons. New World porcupines eat primarily pine
needles and bark, roots, stems, leaves, berries, meadow
grass, seeds, flowers, nuts, aquatic vegetation, fruits,
and tubers.
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Communication: The vocal repertoire of
a porucpine is extensive. Porucpines make noises
that include: tooth-chattering, low-pitched grunts,
screeches, snarls, and high-pitched cat like shrieks.
Porcupines also use scent marking to communicate.
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Did You Know?
Porcupines do not "shoot"
their quills. The quills will stand
up on end when the animal is alarmed
or frightened creating a "protective
armor".
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Gestation: Porcupines carry their young for
approximately 16 to 31 weeks depending on the species.
Birth: Porcupines give birth to litters of 1
to 3 babies. A newborn baby porcupine typically weighs
about 3 percent of it's mother's body weight.
Sexually Mature: Porcupines sexually mature
between 9 months to 2.5 years of age depending on the
species.
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Life Span: Porcupines live in the wild
for 7 to 9 years. Pythons, leopards, and large
owls all prey on porcupines.
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Did You Know?
A porcupines quill length varies depending
on it's location on it's body. A porcupine's
quills can range from 1 inch up to 12
inches on the back.
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Social Structure: Porcupines are social creatures
with the exception of the winter when as 12 porucpines
may share a den.
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