THE PORCUPINES 1335 



THE PORCUPINES 

 Family 



The well-known porcupines, which have the widest geographical distribution of 

 any family of this section of the order, are distinguished from their allies by the 

 presence of a number of large quill-like spines in the skin. Their build is stout and 

 massive, and the fore and hind-limbs are of subequal length. In the skull, the 

 region of the face is comparatively short and broad; while the cheek or jugal bone 

 in the zygomatic arch is devoid of the angle on its lower edge, distinctive of most of 

 the members of the preceding family. The molar teeth are partly or completely 

 rooted with folds of enamel on each side. Porcupines derive their name from the 

 French pore-Spin (spiny-pig), probably in allusion to their grunting pig-like cries. 

 They are common to both the Old and New Worlds; although the representatives 

 of the group found in the two Hemispheres constitute two distinct subfamilies. 



The common Canadian porcupine (Erethizon dorsatus) belongs to a 



group confined to America, all the members of which are arboreal in 

 Porcupine 



their habits, while most of them have prehensile tails. They are all 



characterized by the absence of a cleft in the upper lip, by the naked soles of the 



feet being covered by a number of tubercles, by the want of the first toe in the fore- 



foot, and the presence of only three teats in the female. Their molar teeth have 



complete roots, and the collar bones are fully developed E. dorsatus differs from 



its allies in having a short and nonprehensile tail, and also in the presence of five 



toes in the hind-feet. It is a heavy and clumsily- built animal, with long brown 



hair, almost or com- 



pletely concealing the 



short spines, which are 



white with brownish 



tips. The length of the 



creature is about two 



feet, and its weight 



from fifteen to twenty 



pounds. The limbs, 



neck, ears, and muzzle SKELETON OF PORCUPINE. 



are short; the ears be- 



ing almost concealed by the long bristly hair at the sides of the head. The claws 



are very long and powerful, and the tail massive and almost four sided in shape. 



The stout spines vary in length from less than one inch to more than four inches in 



different parts of the body; they cling loosely to the skin, and are thus easily de- 



tached, and as they are slightly barbed at the points they make their way completely 



through the flesh of any animal in which they may become fixed. As in other 



members of the family, the quills, when the animal is in repose, lie smoothly and 



are directed backward; but under the influence of excitement they can be erected 



by the aid of a sheet of muscle underlying the skin. The Canadian porcupine ex- 



tends in the country from which it takes its name as far northward as the limit of 



