Long-tailed Porcupine
Coendou longicaudatus
- Class
- Mammal
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 378
- Most observed in
- 🇨🇴 Colombia
Description
The Amazonian long-tailed porcupine (Coendou longicaudatus), also known as Cerrado's long-tailed porcupine, is a species of rodent in the family Erethizontidae, the New World porcupines. Found across most of South America, it was first described by François Marie Daudin in 1802. It was for some time considered a subspecies of the Brazilian porcupine (Coendou prehensilis). C. prehensilis was split into three distinct species in 2021: the Brazilian porcupine, C. prehensilis; the Amazonian long-tailed porcupine, C. longicaudatus; and the Baturite porcupine, C. baturitensis. The species has been recorded as exhibiting albinism and is susceptible to several fungal infections.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Amazonian long-tailed porcupine”.