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By Bridget Fahey
Geographic Range
South America: Venezuela, Guianas, Brazil, Bolivia, and Trinidad.
Biogeographic Regions:
neotropical 
(native ).
Habitat
These porcupines live in forests between 150-2500 meters in elevation. They occur both in coastal and Amazonian areas of Peru. Occasionally, this species enters cultivated areas.
Terrestrial Biomes:
rainforest .
Physical Description
(1.98 to 11 lbs)
Body length is between 300-600 mm. Dorsal side is covered with short spines. Coloration of dorsal side varies from yellow to black, venter is usually gray. No spines are found on the tail, which is long (330-485 mm) and prehensile. Feet are reflective of their arboreal lifestyle, with long-clawed digits.
Some key physical features:
endothermic ; bilateral symmetry .
Reproduction
There is no breeding season. Little is known about courtship and mating interactions between the sexes. Gestation lasts 203 days, after which one precocial young is born. Young weigh 415 grams at birth and can climb almost immediately. Weaning occurs after 10 weeks, adult size is reached in less than a year, and sexual maturity (for females) is achieved in 19 months. Females mate right after young are born.
Key reproductive features:
gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual .
Behavior
Prehensile-tailed porcupines are nocturnal and arboreal. During the day, individuals rest in trees at a height of 6-10 meters. Intra-specific interactions consist of biting and attempts to injure adversaries with their sharp quills. When excited, porcupines stamp their hind feet. Vocalizations consist of growls and cries. If caught, these porcupines roll into a ball. The prehensile tail is used to curl around branches when climbing.
Food Habits
The diet is primarily vegetation, including leaves, tender, stems, fruits, blossoms, and roots. They get at the cambium layer of trees by peeling away the bark. They also have been found to raid guava, bananas and corn from plantations.
Plant Foods:
leaves; wood, bark, or stems; fruit; flowers.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
These porcupines can damage crops, which they occasionally raid for food.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Prehensile-tailed porcupines are used as food in many parts of South America.
Ways that people benefit from these animals:
food .
Conservation Status
Not currently endangered, although habitat destruction affects them adversely.
For More Information
Find Coendou prehensilis information at
Contributors
Bridget Fahey (author), University of Michigan.
