Malayan porcupine

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Malayan porcupine
Hystrix brachyura, Malayan porcupine - Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Hystricidae
Genus:	Hystrix
Species:	H. brachyura
Binomial name
Hystrix brachyura Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies
H. b. brachyura H. b. subcristata H. b. hodgsoni †H. b. punungensis[2] H. b. yunnanensis Anderson, 1878 H. b. bengalensis Blyth, 1851[3]

The Malayan porcupine or Himalayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura) is a species of

This species and their close relatives are believed, based on their current distribution, to have originated in southern Asia. They likely have a common ancestor from the Late Pleistocene when Sumatra, Borneo, and Palawan were part of Sundaland.^{[citation needed]}

Habitat and ecology

Malayan porcupines are terrestrial and usually to be found in small groups in various types of forest habitats, as well as open areas near forests: they may also stray into nearby agricultural areas. They often inhabit dens they have found near rocky areas or in the holes of trees or root systems. They may also dig out and live in burrows, from which a network of trails penetrate into surrounding habitat. They can be found in all forest types up to 1500 m altitude.^[6]

Female porcupines have a gestation period of 110 days and a litter size of two or three. The species may give birth to two litters annually.^[1]

Characteristics

It is a large and stout-bodied rodent covered with quills which are sharp, rigid structures. The quills are modified hair.^[6] Those on their upper body parts are rough with black with white or yellow stripes. The young's soft quills become hard as they enter adulthood. They have short, stocky legs covered in brown hairs which have four claws on the front and five on the hind legs. Both front and hind legs have smooth soles.^{[citation needed]} The head and body measurement are around 56-74 cm and the tail is about 6–11 cm. They weigh around 10 kg-18 kg.^[7]

Diet

They normally feed on roots, tubers, bark and fallen fruits. They also eat carrion, insects, and large tropical seeds such as belonging to Chisocheton cumingianus.

Behaviour

H. brachyura

Conservation and economic importance

IUCN has categorized this species as

• Malayan porcupine - Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
• 
  Himalayan crestless porcupine H. b. hodgsoni from India

References