Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/737

 PORCUPINE ally seen singly, and sleep during the heat of the day, feeding at morning and evening ; they are harmless, easily reconciled to captivity, but with very little intelligence. They inhabit Brazilian Tree Porcupine (Cercolabes prehensilis). America, from Mexico to Paraguay, living on trees, on which they are expert but slow climb- ers. The Brazilian tree porcupine (G. prehen- silis, Brandt) is 16 to 20 in. to the base of tail, the latter nearly as much more. It is abun- dant in Guiana, Brazil, and Bolivia, and feeds on the fruit of the palms. In the Mexican tree porcupine (G. Novce Hispania, Briss.) the gen- eral color is black; the spines are nearly all hidden by the fur, yellowish or whitish with black points ; it is about 18 in. long, with a tail of 14 in. ; it inhabits the temperate moun- tain regions of eastern Mexico, between 2,000 and 4,000 ft. above the sea. Other species are described in vol. ii. of Waterhouse's " Natural History Of the Mammalia" (London, 1848). Dr. Lund describes from the caves of Minas Geraes in Brazil two species of fossil tree por- cupines, one of which he believes to have been as large as the peccary. The subfamily hystri- cina, or the old world porcupines, dwell on the ground, living in burrows or caves in the rocks ; they have five toes on each foot, and the soles are naked and smooth ; the skull is elongated, with a distinct lachrymal bone partly enclosing the lachrymal opening ; molars semi-rooted and in parallel series, those of the upper jaw with one internal fold of enamel and three or four externally, soon assuming the form of small isolated areas ; lower molars with the folds re- versed ; the whole palate is on the same level and the clinoid processes are distinct ; the up- per lip is divided by a vertical groove. They are found in S. Europe, middle and S. Asia, and Africa. In the genus hystrix (Linn.) the tail is short, and the hinder part of the neck is armed with long cylindrical spines or quills ; the inner toe of the fore feet is very short, with a small blunt nail ; there are five fleshy 676 VOL. xiii. 46 PORCUPINE ANT-EATER 717 pads on the fore, and six on the hind soles. The crested or common porcupine (H. cristata, Linn.) is found in S. Europe, where it has come from N. and W. Africa; 'it is about 28 in. long, the tail about 8 in. more ; the muzzle is large and obtuse, sparingly clothed with small dusky hairs, with scattered longer and coarser ones on the upper lip ; anterior and under parts and limbs with spines not more than 2 in. long, with which are mixed some coarse hairs ; crest of numerous very long bristles, extending from the crown to the back, 16 in. long, and curving backward; hind parts of the body and tail covered with quills, some slender and flexible, 12 to 16 in. long, others shorter, stouter, and very sharp ; a few on the tip of the tail are hollow, generally open and truncated at the end, and supported on a very slender stalk about half an inch long. The prevailing color is brownish black, with a white band on the fore part of the neck ; the longest quills have the terminal fifth white, and the rest variously ringed black and white ; bristles of crest dusky with long white points, some all dirty white ; feet black ; the quills vary considerably in color, but are generally grooved with several delicate longitudinal channels. The skull may be at once recognized by the great size of the nasal bones, the development of the nasal cavi- ty, and the highly arched upper surface. This is the pore-epic of the French, the spiny pig, so called from its heavy pig-like look and its grunting voice. It lives in rocky crevices or in burrows, becoming torpid in winter; the Crested Porcupine (Hystrix cristata). food consists of various vegetable substances, and its flesh is well flavored ; it can erect its quills at pleasure, but cannot discharge them ; besides its grunts, it makes a rattling noise by shaking the tuft of hollow quills on the tail ; it also strikes the ground with its feet like the hares. Fossil bones of this genus have been found in Italy and India. PORCUPINE ANT-EATER, the popular name of the echidna (Cuv.), a genus of marsupial mam- mals of the section monotremata, inhabiting