| Sumatran porcupine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sumatran porcupine killed by a truck in central Sumatra | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Hystricidae |
| Genus: | Hystrix |
| Species: | H. sumatrae |
| Binomial name | |
| Hystrix sumatrae (Lyon, 1907) | |
 | |
The Sumatran porcupine (Hystrix sumatrae) is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. It is endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where it is hunted for food. [1]
Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family Erethizontidae. Both families belong to the infraorder Hystricognathi within the profoundly diverse order Rodentia and display superficially similar coats of rigid or semi-rigid quills which are modified hairs composed of keratin. Despite this, the two groups are distinct from one another and are not closely related to each other within the Hystricognathi. The largest species of porcupine is the third-largest living rodent in the world after the capybara and beaver.
The Old World porcupines, or Hystricidae, are large terrestrial rodents, distinguished by the spiny covering from which they take their name. They range over the south of Europe and the Levant, most of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia as far east as Flores. Although both the Old World and New World porcupine families belong to the infraorder Hystricognathi of the vast order Rodentia, they are quite different and are not particularly closely related.
Hystrix is a genus of porcupines containing most of the Old World porcupines. Fossils belonging to the genus date back to the late Miocene of Africa.
The crested porcupine, also known as the African crested porcupine, is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae native to Italy, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
The Sunda Island tiger is a tiger subspecies native to the Sunda Islands in Indonesia. The name refers to the:
The Malayan porcupine or Himalayan porcupine is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. Three subspecies are extant in South and Southeast Asia.
The thick-spined porcupine is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. It is endemic to the island of Borneo and found in Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
The Sunda porcupine is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae. It is endemic to Indonesia. Due to the popularity of the hunting and consumption of the Sunda porcupine as an aphrodisiac, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry in Indonesia has listed this species as a protected animal as of June 2018.
The Philippine porcupine or Palawan porcupine is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae endemic to the island of Palawan in the Philippines. It is known locally as durian or landak.
The Sicilian shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Sicily (Italy) and Gozo (Malta). Its natural habitat is temperate shrubland.
The caatinga vesper mouse is a rodent species in the family Cricetidae from South America. It is endemic to eastern Brazil, where it is found in open savanna (cerrado) and thorny scrub (caatinga) habitats. Its karyotype has 2n = 66 and FN = 68. It was formerly synonymized with C. callosus, but the latter has 2n = 50 and FN = 66. Karyologic analysis of C. expulsus has shown that the X chromosome is large and submetacentric while the Y chromosome is either acrocentric or submetacentric. Predators include the barn owl. Sexual dimorphism in shape and size occurs; the former is present mainly before the age of 20 days. Males are smaller before age 50 days and larger thereafter, which becomes less prominent after 200 days.
Schizolaena hystrix is a tree in the family Sarcolaenaceae. It is endemic to Madagascar. The specific epithet hystrix is from the Latin meaning "spiny", referring to the porcupine-like appearance of the involucre.
The Mishmi giant flying squirrel is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. First described in 2009 from East Himalayan forests at altitudes of 600–1,600 m (2,000–5,200 ft) in the Mishmi Hills of northeastern Arunachal Pradesh in India, the taxonomic status and position of this giant flying squirrel is not fully resolved.
The Socotran pipistrelle or Lanza's pipistrelle is an endangered species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is endemic to Socotra Island in Yemen, and is the only mammal thought to be endemic to the island.
 | This article about a rodent is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
