Prehensile Tailed Porcupine
photo M. Noonan
The prehensile-tailed
porcupine is quite different from the North American porcupine. The
major difference is that it has a unique feature called a prehensile
tail. On most of the body, the porcupine has stiff body hairs called
quills. The tail however, is naked so that it can curl around strong
branches, serving as a fifth limb. This adaptation allows the
porcupine to move throughout the canopy to find twigs, fruit, and
seeds to eat. They also have strong claws to aid in climbing. The
prehensile-tailed porcupine is only ¼ of the weight of the
bark-eating North American Porcupine. The tropical porcupine
strangely does not attempt to defend itself by striking predators
with its quills. Instead, it will bite, roll into a ball, or flee.