View source for Old World porcupine

{{Short description|Family of rodents}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Old World porcupines
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Serravallian|recent|Miocene – recent}}
| image = Porcupine Berlin Zoo.jpg
| image_caption = Old World porcupine
| taxon = Hystricidae
| authority = [[Johann Fischer von Waldheim|Fischer de Waldheim]], 1817
| type_genus = ''[[Hystrix (porcupine)|Hystrix]]''
| type_genus_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = 
*''[[Hystrix (porcupine)|Hystrix]]''
*''[[Atherurus]]''
*''[[Trichys]]''
}}
[[File:Relief of porcupine in an Egyptian desert, detail of a wall fragment from the grave of Penhenuka at Saqqara, Egypt, Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, c. 2500 BCE. Neues Museum.jpg|thumb|Relief of a porcupine in an Egyptian desert, detail of a wall fragment from the grave of [[Pehenuikai]] at Saqqara, Egypt, Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, c. 2500 BCE. Neues Museum, Berlin]]
The '''Old World porcupines''', or '''Hystricidae''', are large terrestrial [[rodent]]s, distinguished by the [[Spine (zoology)|spiny]] covering from which they take their name. They range over the south of [[Europe]] and the [[Levant]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biblehub.com/topical/p/porcupine.htm|title=Topical Bible: Porcupine|website=biblehub.com|access-date=28 January 2019}}</ref> most of [[Africa]], [[India]], and [[Southeast Asia]] as far east as [[Flores]]. Although both the Old World and [[New World porcupine]] families belong to the infraorder [[Hystricognathi]] of the vast [[order (biology)|order]] Rodentia, they are quite different and are not particularly closely related.

== Characteristics ==
Old World porcupines are stout, heavily built animals, with blunt, rounded heads, fleshy, mobile snouts, and coats of thick cylindrical or flattened spines, which form the whole covering of their bodies, and are not intermingled with ordinary hairs. The habits of most species are strictly terrestrial. They vary in size from the relatively small long–tailed porcupine with body lengths of {{convert|27.9|to|48|cm|abbr=on}}, and a weight of {{convert|1.5|to|2.3|kg|abbr=on}},<ref>ADW Animal Diversity Web</ref> to the much larger crested porcupines, which are {{convert|60|to|83|cm|abbr=on}} long, discounting the tail, and weigh from {{convert|13|to|27|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name=EoM>{{cite book|editor= Macdonald, D.|author= van Aarde, Rudi|year= 1984|title= The Encyclopedia of Mammals|publisher= Facts on File|location= New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/704 704–705]|isbn= 978-0-87196-871-5|url-access= registration|url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/704}}</ref>

The various species are typically [[herbivore|herbivorous]], eating fruit, roots, and bulbs. Some species also gnaw on dry bones, perhaps as a source of calcium. Like other rodents, they have powerful gnawing [[incisor]]s, and no [[canine (tooth)|canine teeth]]. Their [[dentition|dental formula]] is {{DentalFormula|upper=1.0.1.3|lower=1.0.1.3}}.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nature - Skulls - Mammals' dental formulae|url=https://wildwoodtracking.com/skulls/dentalformulae.html|access-date=2020-12-10|website=wildwoodtracking.com}}</ref> The prominent [[diastema]] allows the lips to be drawn inwards while gnawing. Similar to other [[Hystricomorpha|hystricomorphs]], their chewing muscles are unique. Through an arm of the [[masseter muscle]]s, passing through the [[infraorbital foramen]], chewing movements are very efficient.<ref>Vaughn, T., J. Ryan, N. Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy, Fourth Edition. USA: Brooks/Cole.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Weber|first=Christopher|title=Erethizon dorsatum (North American porcupine)|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Erethizon_dorsatum/|access-date=2020-12-10|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en}}</ref>

One or two (or, rarely, three) young are born after a [[gestation]] period between 90 and 112 days, depending on the species. Females typically give birth only once a year, in a grass-lined underground chamber within a [[burrow]] system. The young are born more or less fully developed, and the spines, which are initially soft, harden within a few hours of birth. Although they begin to take solid food within two weeks, they are not fully [[weaning|weaned]] until 13 to 19 weeks after birth. The young remain with the colony until they reach sexual maturity at around two years of age, and share the burrow system with their parents and siblings from other litters. Males, in particular, help defend the colony from intruders, although both sexes are aggressive towards unrelated porcupines.<ref name=EoM/>

These rodents are also characterized by the imperfectly rooted cheek-teeth, imperfect [[clavicle]]s or collar-bones, cleft upper lip, rudimentary first front-toes, smooth soles, six teats arranged on the side of the body, and many cranial characters.

== Species ==
[[Image:Porcupine bushmeat in Cameroon.jpg|thumb|300px|African brush-tailed porcupine (''Atherurus africanus'') sold for meat in [[Cameroon]]]]

Of the three genera, ''Hystrix'' is characterized by an inflated skull, in which the [[nasal cavity]] is often considerably larger than the [[skull|brain case]], and a short tail, tipped with numerous slender-stalked open quills, which make a rattling noise whenever the animal moves. When threatened, most porcupines will wag their tails, making a louder rattling noise to scare off predators. The [[African brush-tailed porcupine]] (''A. africanus'') will simultaneously raise sharp quills, 40&nbsp;cm (16 inches) in length, on its back and sides.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Porcupine Facts And More About That Rattling Noise|url=https://www.african-safari-pictures.com/porcupine-facts.html|access-date=2020-12-10|website=www.african-safari-pictures.com}}</ref>

The [[crested porcupine]] (''Hystrix cristata''), a typical representative of the Old World porcupines, occurs throughout the south of Europe and North and West Africa. It is replaced in southern and central Africa by the [[Cape porcupine]], ''H. africaeaustralis'', and in [[India]] by the Malayan porcupine (''H. brachyura'') and Indian (crested) porcupine (''H. indica''). The latter also lives throughout the [[Middle East]].

Besides these large-crested species, several smaller species without crests occur in northeast India, and the Malay region from [[Nepal]] to [[Borneo]].

The genus ''[[Atherurus]]'' includes the brush-tailed porcupines which are much smaller animals, with long tails tipped with bundles of flattened spines. One species is found in the Malay region and one in Central and West Africa. The latter species, the African brush-tailed porcupine, is often hunted for its [[bushmeat|meat]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Jori|first1=F.|last2=López-Béjar|first2=M.|last3=Houben|first3=Patrick|date=2004|title=The biology and use of the African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus, Gray, 1842)as a food animal. A review|journal=Biodiversity & Conservation|volume=7|issue=11|pages=1417–1426|doi=10.1023/A:1008853113835|s2cid=31673374}}</ref>

''[[Trichys]]'', the last genus, contains one species, the [[long-tailed porcupine]] (''T. fasciculata'') of Borneo. This species is externally very similar to ''Atherurus'', but differs from the members of that genus in many cranial characteristics.

[[Fossil]] species are also known from Africa and Eurasia, with one of the oldest being ''[[Sivacanthion]]'' from the [[Miocene]] of present-day [[Pakistan]]. However, it was probably not a direct ancestor of modern porcupines.<ref name=MamEv>{{cite book |author= Savage, RJG |author2= Long, MR |name-list-style= amp|year=1986 |title= Mammal Evolution: an illustrated guide|url= https://archive.org/details/mammalevolutioni0000sava |url-access= registration |publisher= Facts on File|location=New York|pages= [https://archive.org/details/mammalevolutioni0000sava/page/124 124–125]|isbn= 978-0-8160-1194-0}}</ref>

=== Species list ===
The extant species<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Hystricognathi | id = 13400042 | page = }}</ref> and fossil genera<ref>McKenna, Malcolm C., and Bell, Susan K. 1997. ''Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level''. Columbia University Press, New York, 631 pp. {{ISBN|0-231-11013-8}}.</ref> are:
*'''Family Hystricidae'''
**''[[Hystrix (porcupine)|Hystrix]]''
***Subgenus ''[[Acanthion]]''
****[[Malayan porcupine]] (''H. brachyura'')
****[[Sunda porcupine]] (''H. javanica'')
***Subgenus ''Hystrix''
****[[Cape porcupine]] (''H. africaeaustralis'')
****[[Crested porcupine]] (''H. cristata'')
****[[Indian porcupine]] (''H. indica'')
***Subgenus ''Thecurus''
****[[Thick-spined porcupine]] (''H. crassispinis'')
****[[Philippine porcupine]] (''H. pumila'')
****[[Sumatran porcupine]] (''H. sumatrae'')
***†''Hystrix arayanensis'' {{notinsource|date=July 2021}}
***†''Hystrix depereti'' {{notinsource|date=July 2021}}
***†''[[Hystrix paukensis]]'' 
***†''[[Hystrix primigenia]]''
***†''[[Hystrix refossa]]'' 
**†''Miohystrix''
**†''Xenohystrix''
**†''[[Sivacanthion]]''
**''[[Atherurus]]''
***[[African brush-tailed porcupine]] (''A. africanus'')
***[[Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine]] (''A. macrourus'')
**''[[Trichys]]''
***[[Long-tailed porcupine]] (''T. fasciculata'')

== See also ==
* [[Porcupine]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Wikispecies-inline|Hystricidae}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Hystricidae}}

{{Hystricidae nav}}
{{Rodents}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q302006}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hystricidae| ]]
[[Category:Hystricognath rodents]]
[[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Porcupines| ]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Gotthelf Fischer von Waldheim]]