Coendou pruinosus Thomas 1905
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
Erethizontidae
Coendou
Coendou pruinosus

description: 14.
Frosted Porcupine
Coendou pruinosus
French: Coendou givré / German: Raureif-Greifstachler / Spanish: Puercoespin escarchado
Other common names: Brown Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Frosted Hairy Dwarf Porcupine
Taxonomy. Coendou pruinosus Thomas, 1905,
“Montanas de la Pedregosa,” Mé- rida, Venezuela.
Recent cytochrome-b sequence data suggests that C. pruinosus may be closely related to C. ichillus, C. roosmalenorum, and C. vestitus. These species have soft emergent fur in dorsal pelage, bristle-quills, and defensive quills. Monotypic.
Distribution. N & W Venezuela (Venezuelan Coastal Range and the foothills of the Serrania de Perija, lowlands of W Maracaibo Basin, and Cordillera de Mérida) and NC Colombia (E Andes Range and the adjacent Serrania de la Macarena).
Descriptive notes. Head-body 320-380 mm; tail 190 mm; no specific data available for body weight. The Frosted Porcupine is medium-sized and covered in dark graybrown to blackish fur that covers spines and is frosted whitish at tips, especially on sides. Gray-brown head carries tricolored spines that are pale basally, dark in middles, and pale again at tips; a few of these tricolored quills also appear on shoulders. Head is finely ticked with white. Mystacial vibrissae are black and stiff. Frontal sinuses are not inflated, and roof of external auditory meatus is weakly keeled. Defensive quills on dorsum are very short, less than 25 mm, and mostly bicolored, pale yellow at bases with black tips. Long, thick, and white-tipped tricolored bristle-quills are sprinkled throughout dorsal fur. Tail is short to intermediate, with tail lengths 50-70% of head— body lengths. As with other species of Coendou, prehensile tail is naked dorsally but at tip (last 50 mm) only on the Frosted Porcupine. Tail base is pale yellow or whitish, grizzled with fine white spines. Tail tip and ventral surface oftail are black. Venteris thickly furred and lacks spines; fur is dark brown basally and heavily frosted with silver. Feet are also brown and grizzled with white.
Habitat. Rainforest and cloud forest in mountains, foothills, and lowlands at elevations of 54-2600 m.
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. The Frosted Porcupine nests in hollows of rotten tree trunks and perhaps in branches of trees. Four individuals were found together in a nest.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern The IUCN Red List (as Sphiggurus pruinosus). The Frosted Porcupineis likely threatened in parts or all of its distribution by deforestation.
Bibliography. Delgado & Gémez-Laverde (2008), Emmons (1997a), Voss (2011, 2015), Voss & da Silva (2001).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Erethizontidae, pp. 372-397 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 379, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6603219