Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Hys­trix africaeaus­tralis is found only in sub-sa­ha­ran Africa, ex­clud­ing the coastal desert of the south­west. ("The South African Por­cu­pine Page", 1999; Smithers, 1983)

• Biogeographic Regions
• ethiopian
  • native

Habi­tat

South African por­cu­pines are found from sea level to 2000 m above sea level in most areas with veg­e­ta­tion. They pre­fer rocky hills and out­crops, as they must have shel­ter dur­ing the day. They often take shel­ter in caves or antbear (Oryc­tero­pus afer) holes. They also build dens which can be up to 20m long with a 2m deep liv­ing cham­ber. (Nowak, 1999; Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

• Habitat Regions
• temperate
• tropical
• terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• savanna or grassland
• forest
• scrub forest

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

South African por­cu­pines are the largest ro­dent in their re­gion. Fe­males are, on av­er­age, about one kilo­gram heav­ier than males and both sexes are larger than half a meter long.

These por­cu­pines are cov­ered with flat, bristly hairs and have quills and spines on the pos­te­rior back and flanks. The dif­fer­ence be­tween quills and spines is largely one of length and thick­ness, with spines up to 50 cm long and quills up to 30 cm long. The white and black crest of spines and quills can be erected at will to make the an­i­mal look enor­mous and threat­en­ing. Some spines on the tail are hol­low and make a rat­tling sound when shaken. The very sharp spines and quills come off when touched by a preda­tor or shaken off, but they grow back rapidly. South African por­cu­pines also have very long mo­bile whiskers. (Nowak, 1999; Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• female larger

• Range mass

  18 to 30 kg

  39.65 to 66.08 lb

• Average basal metabolic rate

  13.175 W

  AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

Be­cause of their dan­ger­ous anatomy, fe­males ini­ti­ate cop­u­la­tion by pre­sent­ing to the males. (Nowak, 1999; Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

Male por­cu­pines reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity be­tween eight and eigh­teen months, while fe­males reach sex­ual ma­tu­rity be­tween nine and six­teen months. Ges­ta­tion lasts for three months.

The young are born in lit­ters of one to four into a grass-lined cham­ber in the par­ents' den dur­ing the wet months of Au­gust to March. The av­er­age lit­ter size is 1.5 and the av­er­age new­born mass is 311g.

Young por­cu­pines nurse for three to four months, at which point they will weigh four to five kilo­grams. After the wean­ing of their young, fe­male por­cu­pines can not con­ceive for an­other three to five months. (Nowak, 1999; Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous
• year-round breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual
• viviparous

• Breeding interval

  Female porcupines usually breed once yearly, although more often is possible.

• Breeding season

  Breeding occurs from May through December.

• Range number of offspring

  1 to 4

• Average number of offspring

  1.5

• Average number of offspring

  2.1

  AnAge

• Average gestation period

  3 months

• Average gestation period

  94 days

  AnAge

• Range weaning age

  3 to 4 months

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  9 to 16 months

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  8 to 18 months

Young are born rel­a­tively well-de­vel­oped, with their eyes open and teeth pre­sent. They have soft quills and spines at birth (most likely to ease the birthing process) but they quickly harden in the air. The young grow rapidly, reach­ing full size in about a year. (Nowak, 1999; Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

• Parental Investment
• precocial
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifes­pan/Longevity

These por­cu­pines are long-lived for ro­dents, sur­viv­ing 12 to 15 years in the wild.

• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild

  12 to 15 years

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  15 (high) years

  AnAge

Be­hav­ior

South African por­cu­pines are pri­mar­ily noc­tur­nal, al­though they may be seen dur­ing the day.

South African Por­cu­pines are de­scribed as ei­ther soli­tary crea­tures or liv­ing in small fam­ily groups. Storch (1990) por­trays them as liv­ing in clans of up to six fam­ily mem­bers in which both par­ents give long-term care to young. They have also been re­ported to be in­traspecif­i­cally ag­gres­sive, al­though the exact sit­u­a­tion was not men­tioned. (Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

• Key Behaviors
• terricolous
• nocturnal
• motile
• sedentary
• solitary
• social

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

• Perception Channels
• tactile
• chemical

Food Habits

South African por­cu­pines are mostly veg­e­tar­ian, using their strong dig­ging claws to get roots, tu­bers, and bulbs. They are also fond of fallen fruits and will some­times gnaw on bark. Their an­te­rior large in­tes­tine and en­larged ap­pen­dix con­tain mi­croor­gan­isms that break down undi­gested plant fibers.

They have also been re­ported to eat car­rion in some in­stances. In areas de­fi­cient in phos­pho­rous they prac­tice os­teopha­gia, or gnaw­ing on bones. These por­cu­pines will often ac­cu­mu­late large piles of bones in their dens. (Nowak, 1999; Storch, 1990)

• Primary Diet
• herbivore
  • lignivore
  • eats sap or other plant foods

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• roots and tubers
• wood, bark, or stems
• flowers

Pre­da­tion

Hys­trix africaeaus­tralis have in­ter­est­ing de­fen­sive be­hav­iors. They have quite acute hear­ing and will freeze when ap­proached by preda­tors, such as big cats, large preda­tory birds, or hyae­nas. When cor­nered, these por­cu­pines can be ag­gres­sive, run­ning side­ways or back­wards to embed their sharp quills in an at­tacker. Con­trary to myth, they can not throw their quills, but they may be­come dis­lodged when they shake their hol­low rat­tling quills. An­other de­fen­sive be­hav­ior is to hide in their holes fac­ing in and erect their spines so that they can not be dis­lodged. (Smithers, 1983; Storch, 1990)

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• aposematic

Ecosys­tem Roles

Por­cu­pine for­ag­ing has im­por­tant im­pacts on the plant com­mu­ni­ties in which they live.

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

Por­cu­pines are im­por­tant mem­bers of healthy ecosys­tems.

• Positive Impacts
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Por­cu­pines eat veg­etable crops and are de­struc­tive feed­ers. That is, they dig up and de­stroy much more food than they eat. (Smithers, 1983)

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

South African por­cu­pines are not con­sid­ered threat­ened cur­rently.

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• IUCN Red List

  Least Concern
  More information

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

Con­trib­u­tors

Tanya Dewey (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web.

Lisa De­Bru­ine (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Phil Myers (ed­i­tor), Mu­seum of Zo­ol­ogy, Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor.

Ref­er­ences

1999. "The South African Por­cu­pine Page" (On-line). Ac­cessed No­vem­ber 28, 1999 at http://​garnet.​fsu.​edu/​~jb­m4162/porc.​htm.

Nowak, R. 1999. Walker's Mam­mals of the World v. III. Bal­ti­more: The Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­sity Press.

Smithers, R. 1983. The Mam­mals of the South­ern African Sub­re­gion. Pre­to­ria, South Africa: Uni­ver­sity of Pre­to­ria.

Storch, G. 1990. Por­cu­pines. S Parker, ed. Griz­imek's En­cy­clo­pe­dia of Mam­mals v.4. New York: Mc­Graw-Hill.