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MAMMALS OF THE PACIFIC WORLD 



Fig. 50 — Asiatic Porcupine 



armor. A porcupine tries always to keep its rear directed at 

 an enemy ; the quills are erected by strong skin muscles and the 

 animal is said to run backward. For the most part porcupines 

 are nocturnal and feed largely on roots and succulent vege- 

 tation. 



Brush-tailed porcupines (Atherurus) have almost as wide a 

 range as the common porcupine, but they are not found east 

 of Sumatra. They look like large, blunt-nosed, spiny rats, with 

 the relativity short tail ending in a tuft of hollow quills, each 

 of which somewhat resembles a string of flat beads. The spiny 

 quills that cover the body are grooved ; most of the stiff spines 

 are about two inches in length, although some of the thin ones 

 are three times as long. The brush-tailed porcupine is about 

 thirty-two inches in total length, of which the tail is about one- 

 third. 



The Long-tailed Porcupine (Trichys) resembles its brush- 

 tailed relative, but its spines are shorter and the hairs of the 

 long tail are parallel-sided. This rare porcupine is found only 

 in Borneo and Sumatra. 



