Hystrix crassispinis Gunther 1877
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
Hystrix
Hystrix crassispinis

description: 5.
Thick-spined Porcupine
Hystrix crassispinis
French: Porc-épic de Bornéo / German: Borneo Stachelschwein / Spanish: Puercoespin de espinas gruesas
Other common names: Borneo Short-tailed Porcupine
Taxonomy. Hystrix crassispinis Gunther, 1877,
“Borneo.” A. Gunther in 1877 cross referenced an earlier paper of his in the same journal in which the type locality was given as “Borneo, opposite of Labuau.”
H. crassispinis is in subgenus Thecurus. Monotypic.
Distribution. Borneo.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 450-665 mm, tail 65-190 mm, ear 35-42 mm, hindfoot 80-90 mm; weight 3.8-5.4 kg.
The Thick-spined Porcupine is medium-sized and brown, with extremely thick quills. It is the largest species in the subgenus Thecurus, with the largest quills, tactile bristles, and rattle-quills. It appears distinctly speckled by white tips of spines on cheeks, neck, shoulders, flanks, and sometimes anterior of back. Some large defensive quills on posterior of back have white tips ¢.25-65 mm long, while others are blackish up to their tips. Number of white-tipped quillsis larger than number of black quills; number of tactile bristles is small. As with other species in the subgenus Thecurus, there is no crest on head. Thick quills reach up to 8:3 mm in diameter, making them thicker than those in the largest specimens of subgenus Acanthion and as thick as those in subgenus Hystrix. Tail is short, with ratio of tail-to-head-body length less than 20%, and it has rattle-quills. Lengths of hollow capsule-like parts of rattle-quills are 12-16 mm. Long quills of hindquarters are dark brown, with fairly narrow white tips and bases, and quills beneath tail are brown and white. The Thick-spined Porcupine can be differentiated from the Sumatran Porcupine (H. sumatrae) byits larger skull with slightly longer nasals, longer rattle-quills, thicker quills, and largertactile bristles.
Habitat. Primary lowland rainforest, old and young secondary forest, and open areas up to elevations of 1200 m in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.
Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Endemic island rodents such as the Thick-spined Porcupine may be particularly at risk of extinction and require further study.
Bibliography. Amori, Gippoliti & Helgen (2008), Corbet & Hill (1992), Glinther (1877b), Helgen & Lunde (2008), Medway & Harrisson (1963), Nowak (1999a), Rustam et al. (2011), Storch (1990), van Weers (1978).
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 308, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6612213