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)

  1. 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.

Synonyms
  • (any species of the family Hystricidae): hystricid

Coordinate terms

See also
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