Atherurus macrourus Skull Replica measures 4.2 inches. Atherurus macrourus Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw). Made in USA. Known as Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home decor skull, or office decor skull.
Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupines or Atherurus macrourus are distributed across southeast Asia.
They are found in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysian Peninsula, Malacca by Lyon, India, Hupei, Hainan, South Central China (Yunnan, Szechuan, and Guangxi provinces), Sumatra, Burma, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and adjacent Indo-chinese islands.
In a study using camera traps, it was found that the porcupine typically hunts at night, with a single activity peak during the three-hour period before midnight. To avoid predators on nights when the moon is full, foraging activity is limited to dawn and dusk.
Atherurus macrourus are rat-like and quite slender. They have an almost entirely spiny body, though quills are soft on the under parts, head, and legs. Fur coloration on the upper back is black-brown to grey-brown.
Atherurus macrourus posses short and stout limbs, with short, rounded ears. Their eyes and ears are quite small. Individual hairs have whitish tips. The underside fur coloration is dirty white to light brown.
Atherurus macrourus roundish spines are flattened and stiletto-like, with fluted grooves on the upper surface. On the lower back, round and thicker bristles are interspersed between the spines resulting in a distinct terminal tuft. The tuft is whitish to creamy buff in color.
Each bristle is thick and scaly and contains a chain of flattened disks that rattles when shaken. This serves as a warning to deter predators.
On the upper back, flexible spines are between the fluted spikes, and the longest spines are located on the mid-upper side region. Spines can be about 10 cm long. Atherurus macrourus have a brush-like tuft on the tip of the tail.
Atherurus macrourus are agile and can run, climb, and swim well. Their fore-and hind-feet are five toed, partially webbed and possess blunt, straight claws.
They strictly forage during the night. They are herbivorous and usually feed on vegetation. They enjoy tree bark, roots, tubers, leaves, bulbs, and fallen fruits. However, they sometimes also feed on cultivated crops, insects, and carrion.
