List of erethizontids

North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)

Erethizontidae is a family of mammals in the order Rodentia and part of the Caviomorpha parvorder. Members of this family are called erethizontids or New World porcupines. They are found in North America, Central America, and South America, primarily in forests, though some species can be found in shrublands, grasslands, and savannas. They range in size from the Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine, at 24 cm (9 in) plus a 9 cm (4 in) tail, to the North American porcupine, at 130 cm (51 in) plus a 25 cm (10 in) tail. Erethizontids are herbivores and primarily eat leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots. No erethizontids have population estimates, and none are categorized as an endangered species or critically endangered.

The eighteen extant species of Erethizontidae are divided into two subfamilies: Chaetomyinae consists of a single species, the bristle-spined rat, and Erethizontinae contains seventeen species of porcupines in two genera. A few extinct prehistoric erethizontid species have been discovered, though due to ongoing research and discoveries, the exact number and categorization is not fixed.

Conventions

IUCN Red List categories

Conservation status
EX	Extinct (0 species)
EW	Extinct in the wild (0 species)
CR	Critically endangered (0 species)
EN	Endangered (0 species)
VU	Vulnerable (2 species)
NT	Near threatened (0 species)
LC	Least concern (9 species)
Other categories
DD	Data deficient (6 species)
NE	Not evaluated (1 species)

Conservation status codes listed follow the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Range maps are provided wherever possible; if a range map is not available, a description of the erethizontid's range is provided. Ranges are based on the IUCN Red List for that species unless otherwise noted.

Classification

Erethizontidae is a family consisting of eighteen species in three genera, divided between two subfamilies. Chaetomyinae consists of a single species, and Erethizontinae contains seventeen species of porcupines in two genera.

• Family Erethizontidae
  • Subfamily Chaetomyinae
    • Genus Chaetomys (bristle-spined rat): one species
  • Subfamily Erethizontinae
    • Genus Coendou (prehensile-tailed porcupines): sixteen species
    • Genus Erethizon (North American porcupine): one species

Erethizontids

The following classification is based on the taxonomy described by the reference work Mammal Species of the World (2005), with augmentation by generally accepted proposals made since using molecular phylogenetic analysis, as supported by both the IUCN and the American Society of Mammalogists.

Subfamily Chaetomyinae

Main article: Chaetomyinae

Genus Chaetomys – Thomas, 1897 – one species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Bristle-spined rat	C. subspinosus (Olfers, 1818)	Eastern Brazil	Size: 36–45 cm (14–18 in) long, plus 26–27 cm (10–11 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Nuts	VU  Unknown

Subfamily Erethizontinae

Main article: Erethizontinae

Genus Coendou – Lacépède, 1799 – sixteen species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Andean porcupine	C. quichua Thomas, 1899	Panama and northeastern South America	Size: 33–44 cm (13–17 in) long, plus 26–41 cm (10–16 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	DD  Unknown
Bahia porcupine	C. insidiosus (Olfers, 1818)	Eastern Brazil	Size: 29–35 cm (11–14 in) long, plus 18–22 cm (7–9 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Baturite porcupine	C. baturitensis Feijó & Langguth, 2013	Northeastern Brazil	Size: 46–55 cm (18–22 in) long, plus 32–47 cm (13–19 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	DD  Unknown
Bicolored-spined porcupine	C. bicolor (Tschudi, 1844) Four subspecies C. b. bicolor C. b. quichua C. b. richardsoni C. b. simonsi	Western and northwestern South America	Size: 38–50 cm (15–20 in) long, plus 33–54 cm (13–21 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Black dwarf porcupine	C. nycthemera (Olfers, 1818)	Northern Brazil	Size: 29–38 cm (11–15 in) long, plus 28–37 cm (11–15 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	DD  Unknown
Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine	C. melanurus (Wagner, 1842)	Northern South America	Size: 28–38 cm (11–15 in) long, plus 22–36 cm (9–14 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Brazilian porcupine	C. prehensilis (Linnaeus, 1758)	South America	Size: 29–48 cm (11–19 in) long, plus 31–43 cm (12–17 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Brown hairy dwarf porcupine	C. vestitus Thomas, 1899	Central Colombia	Size: 29–37 cm (11–15 in) long, plus 17–19 cm (7–7 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	DD  Unknown
Dwarf porcupine	C. speratus Pontes, Gadelha, Melo, de Sá, Loss, Caldara Jr., Costa, & Leite, 2013	Eastern Brazil	Size: 33–44 cm (13–17 in) long, plus 29–32 cm (11–13 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	VU  Unknown
Frosted hairy dwarf porcupine	C. pruinosus Thomas, 1905	Colombia and Venezuela	Size: 32–38 cm (13–15 in) long, plus about 19 cm (7 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine	C. mexicanus (Kerr, 1792)	Mexico and Central America	Size: 35–46 cm (14–18 in) long, plus 20–36 cm (8–14 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine	C. spinosus (Cuvier, 1822)	Southeastern South America	Size: 24–55 cm (9–22 in) long, plus 20–38 cm (8–15 in) tail Habitat: Forest and savanna Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown
Roosmalen's dwarf porcupine	C. roosmalenorum Voss & da Silva, 2001	Western Brazil	Size: About 29 cm (11 in) long, plus about 26 cm (10 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	DD  Unknown
Rothschild's porcupine	C. rothschildi Thomas, 1902	Panama	Size: 33–44 cm (13–17 in) long, plus 26–41 cm (10–16 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	NE  Unknown
Streaked dwarf porcupine	C. ichillus Voss & da Silva, 2001	Eastern Ecuador	Size: 26–29 cm (10–11 in) long, plus 21–25 cm (8–10 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	DD  Unknown
Stump-tailed porcupine	C. rufescens (J. E. Gray, 1865)	Northwestern and central South America	Size: 31–37 cm (12–15 in) long, plus 10–15 cm (4–6 in) tail Habitat: Forest Diet: Leaves, stems, fruit, blossoms, and roots	LC  Unknown

Genus Erethizon – F. Cuvier, 1823 – one species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
North American porcupine	E. dorsatum (Linnaeus, 1758) Seven subspecies E. d. bruneri E. d. couesi E. d. dorsata E. d. epixanthus E. d. myops E. d. nigrescens E. d. picinum	North America	Size: 60–130 cm (24–51 in) long, plus 16–25 cm (6–10 in) tail Habitat: Forest, shrubland, and grassland Diet: Buds, twigs, roots, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, berries, nuts, and other vegetation	LC  Unknown

Sources

• Chernasky, Amy; Motis, Anna; Burgin, Connor, eds. (2023). All the Mammals of the World. Lynx Nature Books. ISBN 978-84-16728-66-4.
• Nowak, Ronald M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Vol. 2 (6th ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-5789-8.
• Woods, Charles A.; Kilpatrick, C. William (2005). Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World. Vol. 2 (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0.