Old World porcupine
English
An Old World porcupine (genus Atherurus, unidentified species)
Etymology
From Old World + porcupine.
Noun
Old World porcupine (plural Old World porcupines)
- Any of the large, spiny-furred rodents of the family Hystricidae, native to the southern Eurasia and Africa.
- 2008, Barbara A. Holzman, Tropical Forest Biomes, page 115:
- Rodents are represented by four families: squirrels, Old World porcupines, mice and rats, and bamboo rats.
- 2010, Peter S. Ungar, Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity, page 211:
- Old World porcupines inhabit much of Africa, southern Europe, and Asia. Old World porcupines are also known to gnaw on bones (Bruno and Riccardi 1995; Nowak 1999; Smithers, Skinner, and Chimimba 2005; Barhelmess 2006; Arslan 2008).
- 2011, Terry A. Vaughan, James M. Ryan, Mammalogy, page 227,
- Erethizon characteristically takes shelter in rock piles, beneath overhanging rocks, or in hollow logs but (as other New World porcupines) does not dig burrows as do Old World porcupines.
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Synonyms
- (any species of the family Hystricidae): hystricid
Coordinate terms
- New World porcupine
See also
