Atherurus macrourus
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Thomas E. Lacher, Jr
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Rodentia
Hystricidae
Atherurus
Atherurus macrourus

description: 3.
Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine
Atherurus macrourus
French: Athérure asiatique / German: Asiatischer Quastenstachler / Spanish: Puercoespin asiatico de cola de cepillo
Other common names: Asian Brush-tailed Porcupine
Taxonomy. Hystrix macroura Linnaeus, 1758,
“Habitat in Asia.” Restricted by M. W. Lyon, Jr. in 1907 to “Malacca,” Malay Peninsula.
Some authors recognize two subspecies in China, hainanus on Hainan Island and the nominate macrourus of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, and Guangxi, while others have argued that A. macrourus is monotypic. In a 1977 review of the genus, D. J. van Weers found only minor differences among purported subspecies insufficient to warrant subspecific designation. [ts distribution overlaps substantially with Hystrix brachyura. Monotypic.
Distribution. SE Asia, from NE India (Assam, Meghalaya, and Mizoram) E to C & S China (S Sichuan, Guizhou, E Hubei, N Hunan, Yunnan, Guangxi, and including Hainan I) and S through Burma (= Myanmar) and mainland South-east Asia to Peninsular Malaysia, also on Tarutao I (SW coast of Thailand), and on Aur, Pemanggil, and Tioman Is (E coast of Peninsular Malaysia); possibly present in Bangladesh. Recorded from Sumatra but needsverification.
Descriptive notes. Head—body 380-570 mm, tail 160-195 mm, ear 33-42 mm, hindfoot 68-80 mm; weight 1-5—4-3 kg. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine is small to medium-sized, with long,scaly tail that ends in brush of white bristles more than 200 mm in length. Body is dark brown above and covered with short, rigid, flattened, whitishtipped spines, not unlike those on a hedgehog. Neck, shoulders, and undersurface of body are covered with soft flattened spines. Spines of lumbar region are longer than others and mixed with a few long white bristles. Spines are grooved. Largest spines in a study skin are 1-2-2-2 mm thick and 1-8-3 mm wide. There is subtle to more distinct pattern of light and dark longitudinal stripes along back and sides of adults. Dorsal color varies due to different frequencies of visible white parts of spines and tactile bristles on body. Chin, throat, and chest between forelegs are whitish. Ventral color varies among individuals; some are mostly white on belly, and others range toward light brown and carry spines with pale brown midsections and whitish tips. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine does not have a crest on its head. Nasal bones are narrow and short, less than 30% of greatest skull length, and preorbital fossa is smaller than temporal fossa. Molars are completely rooted, and upperincisors are orange and nongrooved. Onfeet, pollux is vestigial, and hallux is clawed. There are 2-3 pairs oflaterally placed mammae. Diploid number is 2n = 54. Tail of the Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine is perhaps the most notable aspect ofits appearance. It is brown and scaly and spineless for the first one-third ofits length, and it ends in brush of quills shaped like strings of beads that rattle when shaken; sometimestail is broken off. Tails are 25-50% of head-body length and covered with scales, interspersed with spiny bristles. It ends in a cluster ofalternately expanded and contracted papery bristle hairs, termed “platelet bristles,” that is 80-100 mm in length. Each has 2-6 expansions or “beads” that are 1-3 mm wide and 10-15 mm long. Lengths oflargest tail bristles are 50-130 mm. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine differs from the African Brush-tailed Porcupine (A. africanus) by having a relatively flatter skull and lacking true quills on its body. It differs from the Long-tailed Porcupine (Trichysfasciculata) in the number of vertebrae: 14 dorsal vertebrae and 19-23 caudal vertebrae in Atherurusvs. 16 and 22-25 in Trichys.
Habitat. In general, dense forests and plantations, preferring rocky areas. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine is rarely seen in the open.
Food and Feeding. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine is primarily herbivorous and eats roots, tubers,fruits, tree bark, and some cultivated crops and grains. It will also eat insects and carrion and is known to chew on bones.
Breeding. Female Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupines typically give birth to one (sometimes two) precocial young after 100-110 days of gestation. Two litters may be produced per year. Young leave the nest after about one week—the time it takes for quills to harden after birth.
Activity patterns. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine is nocturnal and generally terrestrial, but it is known to climb trees. During the day, it takes shelter in burrows among rocks in hilly areas. It constructs its own burrows that might connect and hold several individuals at a time.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine 1s gregarious and lives in small groups of 6-8 individuals, using the same burrow system. Collection of six individuals within two nights at one location indicated thatit might not be as rare as previously thought. It is confirmed prey of the Indochinese Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa).
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. The Asiatic Brush-tailed Porcupine is considered near threatened in India, primarily due to habitat loss and harvest for food by humans.
Bibliography. Agrawal (2000), Corbet & Hill (1992), Francis (2008), Grassman et al. (2005), Lunde & Molur (2008a), Lyon (1907), Menon (2009), Molur et al. (2005), Nowak (1999a), Smith & Yan Xie (2008), Srinivasulu & Srinivasulu (2012), Storch (1990), van Weers (1977), Woods & Kilpatrick (2005).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Hystricidae, pp. 304-312 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 307, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6612213