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American porcupine - ERETHEZON DORSATUM
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Porcupine": "Porcupine" comes from the Latin words "porcus spina," meaning "pig spines." The animal is not closely related to a pig, however, and shares the misplaced "porcus" name with the porpoise and the aardvark.
Location: Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Varied: northern forests to tundra and desert regions.
Description: The body is stout and the legs and tail are short. The body and tail are covered with yellowish white spines with brown-black tips. The spines are longest on the lower part of the back and the hindquarters, and shortest on the cheeks. The fur is quite variable in color, ranging from yellow to nearly black. The soles of the feet are hairless, and the front foot has four clawed toes while the hind foot has five clawed toes. These porcupines can grow to almost three and one half feet long, with another foot added on for the tail, but the weigh only about forty pounds tops.
Behavior: In the winter months this porcupine's diet consists mainly of the inner bark of trees, but in summer the diet includes roots, leaves, berries, flowers, and seeds. It nests in trees and climbs well. For much of the year it is solitary, but in winter several individuals may share a nest, which is generally made in a hollow tree, a cave, or a log. It is active during the day and at night.
Reproduction: Mating occurs in autumn. After a gestation period of seven months the female, which has four nipples, gives birth to a single young (2 on rare occasions). The offspring is well developed at birth. It is born with its eyes open and can climb almost immediately. One hour after birth the quills have hardened. It is completely independent after a few weeks.
Go to the Rodents Page to learn more about all the gnawing animals.
Or go to the Porcupine Index to study other
porcupines.
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