Real porcupines

Real porcupines
White-tailed porcupine ( Hystrix indica ) in the Berlin Zoological Garden
Systematics
Superordinate : Euarchontoglires Order : Rodents (Rodentia) Subordination : Porcupine relatives (Hystricomorpha) Partial order : Hystricognathi Family : Porcupines (Hystricidae) Genre : Real porcupines
Scientific name
Hystrix
Linnaeus , 1758

The real porcupines ( Hystrix ) are a genus from the family of porcupines (Hystricidae) with eight species in Africa , Southwest Asia and southern Europe .

Spines

Spike shapes

The porcupines have the longest spines of any mammal . The spines are transformed hair. A wide variety of hairs can be found in the dress of the porcupines: soft wool hair, stiffer hair, flat bristles, thick, very elastic, long bristles and rigid, long round skewers. Individual skewers can be up to 40 cm long and 7 mm in diameter.

species

The following species belong to the genus Hystrix:

• Subgenus Thecurus
  • Borneo porcupine ( Hystrix crassispinis Günther, 1876)
  • Philippines porcupine ( Hystrix pumila Günther, 1879)
  • Sumatran porcupine ( Hystrix sumatrae Lyon, 1907)
• Subgenus Acanthion
  • Malay or short-tailed porcupine ( Hystrix brachyura Linnaeus, 1758)
  • Sunda or Java porcupine ( Hystrix javanica F. Cuvier, 1823)
• Subgenus Hystrix
  • South African porcupine ( Hystrix africaeaustralis )
  • Common porcupine ( Hystrix cristata )
  • Indian white-tailed porcupine ( Hystrix indica )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds) (2005). Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed). ( Memento of the original from September 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

Commons : Actual porcupines  - collection of images, videos and audio files