E. dorsatum Skull Replica measures 4.7 in. E. dorsatum Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw). Made in USA. Known as North American porcupine. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home decor skull, or office decor skull.
E. doprsatum is an herbivore that it eats leaves, herbs, twigs, and green plants such as clover. In the winter, it may eat bark. It often climbs trees to find food.
E. doprsatum are distinguished by its stout, slow, lumbering form and by its spiny coat. Porcupines appear dark brown to black, with dorsal guard hairs and spines that contain bands of yellow. Spines called quills extend from head to tail on the dorsal surface.
The middle of the tail and lower back are marked by a black line. Their quills on the black area are fringed with white.
Because E. doprsatum are nocturnal, the white on black markings stand out, alerting their mostly color blind nocturnal predators of the danger they present. This pattern is visible after porcupines are three months old.
E. doprsatum is the only native North American mammal with antibiotics in its skin. Those antibiotics prevent infection when a porcupine falls out of a tree and is stuck with its own quills upon hitting the ground.
E. doprsatum or Porcupines fall out of trees fairly often because they are highly tempted by the succulent buds and twigs at the ends of the branches.
The porcupine, the wolverine, and the skunk are the only North American mammals that have strongly contrasting black-and-white coloration, because they are the only mammals that benefit from letting other animals know where they are in the dark of night.
The E. doprsatum has specific behaviors to warn or defend against predators. It has a strong warning odor which it can increase when agitated.
When threatened, an adult E. doprsatum can bristle its quills, displaying a white stripe down its back, and use its teeth to make a warning, clacking sound.
The most distinguishing feature of the E. doprsatum is its coat of quills. An adult porcupine has about 30,000 quills that cover all of its body except its underbelly, face, and feet.
E. doprsatum quills are modified hairs formed into sharp, barbed, hollow spines. They are used primarily for defense, but also serve to insulate their bodies during winter. The quills are normally flattened against the body and in this position are less easily dislodged.
E. doprsatum do not throw their quills, but when threatened contract superficial muscles which cause the quills to stand up and out from their bodies. In this position they become easier to detach from the body, especially when the tail is swung toward an attacker. The Erethizon doprsatum barbs at the end of the spines lodge in the flesh of a victim and are difficult and painful to remove.
The North American porcupine has a strong odor to warn away predators, which it can increase when agitated. The smell has been described as similar to strong human body odor, goats, or some cheeses. The odor is generated by a patch of skin called the rosette, on the lower back where modified quills serve as osmetrichia to broadcast the smell.
