Crested porcupine

Hystrix cristata · The crested porcupine is a species of rodent native to Italy, North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa and East Africa.

Also called African crested porcupine, North African Crested Porcupine, European Porcupine.

Crested porcupine
Photo: Quartl, CC BY-SA 3.0
Crested porcupine
Photo: © Roland Fischer, Zürich (Switzerland) – Mail notification to: roland_zh(at)hispeed(dot)ch / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Crested porcupine
Photo: Alina Vozna, CC BY 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderRodentia
FamilyHystricidae
GenusHystrix
SpeciesHystrix cristata

Where it lives

Hills and scrub of Italy, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

Fun facts

  • Its hollow tail quills vibrate to make a hissing rattle, just like a rattlesnake's tail.
  • When cornered, it charges backward and its stabbing quills have killed lions, leopards, hyenas, and even humans.
  • It gnaws on bones to add calcium to its diet and keep its incisors sharp.
  • It hoards thousands of scavenged bones, stashing them away in an underground chamber or cave.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).