Knowra Porcupine Porcupine A porcupine is a rodent whose coat includes stiff, barbed quills that can detach and lodge in an attacker. Porcupines occur in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Quill : A stiff, modified hair that protects an animal or forms part of its plumage. Porcupine quills are modified hairs with backward-facing barbs that help them lodge in skin.
Rodent : A mammal in the order Rodentia, characterized by continuously growing incisors in both jaws. Porcupines are rodents, despite their unusual coat of defensive quills.
North American porcupine : A large, tree-climbing porcupine native to forests and shrublands of North America. It is a familiar example of a New World porcupine, often encountered in northern forests.
Echidna : An egg-laying mammal native to Australia and New Guinea, with a coat of spines and hair. Echidnas have spines, but they are monotremes rather than rodents.
Epidermis : The outer layer of skin in animals. Porcupine quills develop from the epidermis, like other hairs.
Hystricognathi : A major rodent group that includes porcupines, guinea pigs, and several African and South American families. New World porcupines belong to this rodent lineage.
Crested porcupine : A large Old World porcupine with a prominent crest of long quills, native to parts of Africa and Italy. Its terrestrial habits contrast with the tree-climbing behavior of many American species.
Pangolin : A mammal covered in large keratin scales, native to Africa and Asia. Pangolin scales can look like defensive armor, but they are not porcupine quills.
Predator defense : Adaptations and behaviors that reduce an animal's risk of being killed by predators. Quills are a physical defense that makes close attacks costly.
Old World porcupine : A porcupine in the family Hystricidae, native to Africa, Europe, or Asia. This family represents the porcupines native to the Old World.
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