0 Hystrix cristata   Porc épics à crête (1)🐭

Photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesRodentiaHystricidae
Mammals

🐭Crested porcupine

Hystrix cristata Linnaeus, 1758

The crested porcupine, also known as the African crested porcupine, is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae native to Italy, North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa and East Africa. Alongside the Cape porcupine, it is one of the largest porcupine species in the world. It is the only species of porcupine found in Europe.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Photos
1
Measurements
11
vs you
≈ a third of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2016.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
19 kg
Body length
0.93 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
29 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Crested porcupine

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
19 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 20 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.93 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Brain mass
44 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
29 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 28 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
7.65 yearsestimated
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
71 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 66 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 2
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 2.3AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Herbivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Nocturnal
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
0.74 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
19 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

estimated = a model's estimate for a species nobody has measured; average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Crested porcupine yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderRodentia
  5. ›familyHystricidae
  6. ›genusHystrix
  7. ›speciesHystrix cristata
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderRodents · Rodentia
  3. familyHystricidae
  4. genusHystrix
All 14 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderEuarchontoglires
  11. orderRodents · Rodentia
  12. suborderHystricomorpha
  13. familyHystricidae
  14. genusHystrix
More

More about the Crested porcupine

What it eats
leaves, roots and other plants80%
fruit20%
In other languages
Gewöhnliches Stachelschwein (de), гривесто бодливо свинче (bg), Porc espí crestat (ca), Hystrix cristata (es), Hystrix cristata (fr), tarajos sül (hu) … and 21 more languages
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