Mammals
Prehensile-tailed Porcupine
Coendou prehensilis · also called Brazilian porcupine
High in the rainforest canopy at night, a prehensile-tailed porcupine hooks its bare-tipped tail around a branch and reaches slowly for the next fruit.
Overview
The prehensile-tailed porcupine, Coendou prehensilis, is a Least Concern tree-dwelling rodent of the forests of northern and central South America. Its gripping tail, sharp quills, and slow climbing set it apart from the ground-dwelling porcupines of North America and Africa.
A porcupine of the treetops
Unlike the ground-dwelling porcupines of North America, this species lives in trees, where its tail does much of the work its feet cannot.
Status
Least Concern, widespread but hard to survey.
Prehensile-tailed Porcupine: common questions
What does prehensile mean?
A prehensile tail can grip, and this porcupine uses its tail with a bare gripping surface underneath like a fifth limb when climbing.
Can the prehensile-tailed porcupine shoot its quills?
No, porcupines cannot throw their quills, which instead come loose when something touches them.
Is the prehensile-tailed porcupine active by day?
No, it rests by day in tree hollows or dense foliage and forages at night.
Where is the prehensile-tailed porcupine found?
It lives in tropical forest across northern and central South America east of the Andes.