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African Brush-tailed Porcupine

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Mammals

               iAfrican Brush-tailed Porcupine
   African brush-tailed porcupine sold for meat in Cameroon
   African brush-tailed porcupine sold for meat in Cameroon

                             Conservation status

   Least Concern (LC)
                  Scientific classification

   Kingdom:  Animalia
   Phylum:   Chordata
   Class:    Mammalia
   Order:    Rodentia
   Suborder: Hystricomorpha
   Family:   Hystricidae
   Genus:    Atherurus
   Species:  A. africanus

                                Binomial name

   Atherurus africanus
   (Gray, 1842)

   The African Brush-Tailed Porcupine (Atherurus africanus) is a species
   of rat-like Old World porcupine called " brush-tailed porcupines". The
   brush-tailed porcupines live in forests, usually at high elevations.
   They are nocturnal and during the day they sleep in caves and burrows.
   The brush-tailed porcupine is one of the biggest rodents in Africa,
   growing almost three feet long and weigh as much as eight pounds. It
   has an elongated rat-like face and body and short legs, tipped with
   clawed and webbed feet. Unlike most other porcupines, the brush-tailed
   porcupine has lighter and smaller quills. On the tail, these quills are
   thinner and brush-like. These can make noise when rattled. Brush-tailed
   porcupines live in small family groups of about eight members.
   Different family groups can share resources. When attacked by a
   predator, the porcupine raises its quills so it looks twice its size,
   rattles its tail quills, and stomps its feet. As with all porcupines,
   the brush-tailed porcupine would back into the attacker and inflict
   damage with its quills.

   The brush-tailed porcupine is mostly herbivorous. When alone eating,
   the porcupines can be quite nervous. During the breeding season, males
   and females form pair bonds (just like how people go on dates) to get
   acquainted. The African brush-tailed porcupine has a long pregnancy
   compared to other rodents: 110 days at the longest. The young are born
   well-developed or precocial. Porcupines reach maturity at two years of
   age.

   The meat of the African Brush-tailed Porcupine is very popular and is
   consumed in large quantities.
   Retrieved from "
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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