THE ANIMAL FILES

Cape porcupine

Hystrix africaeaustralis

The tail can rattle before the quills meet anything.

Cape porcupines have several kinds of spiny covering, including hollow tail elements that rattle. Their plant diet is processed through hindgut fermentation, and adults can share a territory while foraging separately. Newborn quills begin much softer than the adult defence suggests.[1]

Follow the evidence ↓
Cape porcupine
Image: MarianSz · Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
A rattling tail
Hollow tail spines produce a rattle.[1]
Processing plant food
A large caecum supports hindgut fermentation.[1]
Soft beginnings
Newborn quills harden after birth.[1]

A rattling tail

Long spines, thicker defensive quills and bristly hair form different parts of the covering. Hollow spines on the short tail make a rattling sound used in defence. The animal does not need to strike another animal for that audible warning to occur.[1]

Processing plant food

Fruit, roots, tubers, bulbs and bark form much of the diet. A long small intestine and large caecum accompany hindgut fermentation of tough food. Bone gnawing is also recorded, but does not make meat the principal food.[1]

Soft beginnings

Young are born with soft quills that harden within hours. Adults can live as pairs and care for young together, even though foraging commonly happens individually. Sharing a family territory and searching for each meal together are different behaviours.[1]

A COMMON MIX-UP

Are newborn porcupines already covered in fully hardened adult quills?

No. The quills are initially soft and harden after birth.[1]

TRY A LITTLE REASONING

Why could you hear a defensive signal without seeing physical contact?

Reveal the explanation

The hollow tail spines can rattle, producing sound before any quill contact.[1]

Sources & editorial notes

Adapted and translated from the cited Wikipedia revisions, with source-linked reasoning. Image credit and licence are listed separately above.

Adapted and translated from Wikipedia contributors; exact revisions are linked below. CC BY-SA 4.0

  1. Wikipedia contributors — Cape porcupine (cited revision)
  2. NCBI Taxonomy — Hystrix africaeaustralis

Last fact check:

One discovery leads to another

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