Prehensile Tailed Porcupine Skull

$91.00

The Brazilian porcupine is a porcupine found in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, Peru, Paraguay, Suriname, Bolivia and Trinidad. It inhabits tropical forests at elevations up to 1500 m.

Description

Prehensile Tailed Porcupine Skull Replica measures 3.3 inches. The Prehensile Tailed Porcupine Skull is museum quality polyurethane cast made in USA. 2-part skull (separate cranium & jaw). California Academy of Sciences Polyurethane cast of original specimen. Our precise skull can be used as a teaching tool, museum skull exhibit, home décor skull, or office décor skull.

Coendou prehensilis or Prehensile tailed porcupines have short, thick quills and their body color ranges from yellowish to almost black. Among the most notable features of Coendou porcupines are their unspined prehensile tails. The front and hind feet are also modified for grasping.

These limbs all contribute to making this animal an adept climber, an adaptation to living most of their lives in trees. They feed on leaves, shoots, fruits, bark, roots, and buds. They can be pests of plantation crops. they also make a distinctive “baby-like” sound to communicate in the wild.

The Prehensile tailed porcupine or Coendou prehensilis live in the South American forests of Venezuela, Guiana, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Trinidad, and some extreme northern sections of Argentina. They weigh from 4 to 11 pounds.

Their bodies are 12 to 24 inches long and their tails are almost as long as their bodies, adding another 13 to 19 inches.

This species does not hesitate to attack an adversary, which it does by biting or sitting on its haunches to shake its quills. They will stamp their hind feet when excited and curl up to protect their soft underbelly. They can produce a variety of sounds, from moans and whines to grunts, coughs, shrieks, barks and wails.

Prehensile tailed porcupines or Coendou prehensilis are herbivores that eat leaves, flowers, shoots, roots and the cambium layer found beneath the bark of some trees.

Arboreal animals, they are also excellent climbers and spend the majority of their time in trees. Their ranges vary from 20 to 94 acres.

The Prehensile tailed porcupine or Coendou prehensilis young are born with soft hair that hardens to quills with age. Adults are slow-moving and will roll into a ball when threatened and on the ground. The record longevity is 27 years.

Prehensil Tailed Porcupine Facts:

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Erethizontidae
Subfamily: Erethizontinae
Genus: Coendou

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Additional information

Weight 1 lbs
Dimensions 3.3 in
World Porcupine Day - July 2nd

July 2nd is World Porcupine Day. These herbivore mammals are highly recognizable by their coat of needle-like quills that remind predators not to mess with them! The sharp quills detach easily when touched but are replaced quickly after losing them. A single animal may have 30,000 or more quills!