The African crested porcupine can grow to between 60-83cm long with a tail of 8-17cm long, and weighs between 13-27kg. African Crested Porcupine African Crested Porcupine Natural History Size. Quills have sharp, pointed ends that stick in the skin of any animal who decides to risk attacking a porcupine. Mori E, Bertolino S (2015) Feeding ecology of long-eared owls in winter: an urban perspective. Mori E, Lovari S (2014) Sexual size monomorphism in the crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata). Porcupine Quills. Bird Study 62:257–261 CrossRef Google Scholar. Female porcupines have litters that range in size from one to four baby porcupines. Habitat and Distribution. Some quills, like those of Africa's crested porcupine, are nearly a foot long. Quills. When threatened, a crested porcupine stamps its feet, growls, and grunts to scare off the predator. Mamm Biol 79:157–160 Google Scholar. Crested porcupines are old world types, so called because of patches of spines on their necks which they can raise in defense. Quills are soft at birth, but harden soon after to protect the young porcupines from predators. The quills of New World porcupines are much smaller (about 4 inches or 10 centimeters long) but work just as well. Across Asia and Africa, eight species of crested porcupine exist, all of which are large and bulky, slow-moving animals. As many as 30,000 quills cover every part of a porcupine’s body except its stomach. Emiliano Mori, Niccolò Fattorini, Love getaway: dispersal pattern and distance of the crested porcupine, Mammal Research, 10.1007/s13364-019-00438-1, (2019). The crested porcupine is the size of a small raccoon, but it has the ability to make itself look much larger. porcupine illustration, Hedgehog Drawing Animal Illustration, Animals Hedgehog transparent background PNG clipart size: 864x1080px filesize: 523.03KB gray elephant cartoon character , Cartoon Elephant , elephants transparent background PNG clipart size: 1167x1200px filesize: 777.5KB This porcupine has quills that can be as long as 18 inches (45 cm). The end of each quill has a small barb (like a fish hook) that snags the flesh, keeping the quill stuck in the enemy’s skin. This is a nocturnal rodent that lives on the ground and is found in the northern coast of Africa south to Tanzania and northern Congo. Spine length varies by species with some having short, almost hairlike bristles and others having long sharp spines.
When the animal is threatened, the quills stand up in an elaborate crest, or mane, along its back.