Coendou mexicanus
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 mexicanus

description: 4.
Mexican Hairy Porcupine
Coendou mexicanus
French: Coendou du Mexique / German: Mexiko-Greifstachler / Spanish: Puercoespin de México
Other common names: Mexican Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, Mexican Porcupine, Mexican Tree Porcupine
Taxonomy. Hystrix mexicana Kerr, 1792,
“mountains of Mexico.”
Phylogenetic analysis of cytochrome-b sequence data indicates that C. mexicanusis the sister taxon to the clade that includes C. rufescens and C. quichua. Coendou mexicanus is sympatric in parts of its distribution with C. quichua. Monotypic.
Distribution. Two Mexican coastal plains (from San Luis Potosi to the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf, and Guerrero to Chiapas in the Pacific) throughout Central America to W Panama.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 350-460 mm, tail 200-360 mm, ear 19-25 mm, hindfoot 63-85 mm; weight 1-4—
2:6 kg. The Mexican Hairy Porcupine is a small to medium-sized, black in appearance. Dorsum from neck to base oftail is thickly covered with soft, long, and black or dark-brown fur that covers defensive spines. Defensive spines are short (30-35 mm) and bicolored, yellow basally with short black tips. Bright yellow of spines shows through hairs on head and neck. Ears are buried in long fur but have tufts of pale, whitish brown fur on their dorsal sides. Mystacial vibrissae are robust and long and extend to shoulders. Roof of external auditory meatus has well-developed bony ridge. Tail lengths are 50-80% of head-body lengths. Prehensile tail is colored and quilled, as is the back, for basal one-third of dorsal side, covered with black bristles on middle one-third, and naked for distal one-third. Tail is covered with stiff black bristles underneath. Venter is covered with brown or brown-and-white fur and has no spines. The Mexican Hairy Porcupine shows geographical variation in appearance. Highland individuals have longer and denser fur than lowland individuals. Mexican Hairy Porcupines in Panama have less inflated frontal sinuses and much shorter tails, smaller hindfeet, and narrower nasal apertures than those in Mexico. The Mexican Hairy Porcupine can be differentiated from the sympatric Quichua Porcupine (C. quichua) that lacks emergent fur, appears completely spiny, and has tricolored quills as its dorsal pelage.
Habitat. Tropical rainforest, tropical semideciduous forest, pine-oak forest, and pine forest from sea level to elevations ofat least 2300 m. The Mexican Hairy Porcupine is uncommon in lowlands.
Food and Feeding. The Mexican Hairy Porcupine eats ripe and green fruits and seeds, and it probably browses on leaves and twigs when fruits are scarce.
Breeding. There is no information available for this species.
Activity patterns. The Mexican Hairy Porcupine is nocturnal and arboreal. It dens in hollow trees or sit on tree branches among dense vines or foliage during the day.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no specific information available for this species, but adult pairs of Mexican Hairy Porcupines have been found together in dens.
Status and Conservation. CITES Appendix III. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List (as Sphiggurus mexicanus). Humans hunt Mexican Hairy Porcupines for meat. Their largest threat is probably habitat loss and forest fragmentation. Conservation status of the Mexican Hairy Porcupines in Mexico should be reevaluated because it is not commonly seen and its habitat is being lost to forest fires and agriculture.
Bibliography. Emmons (1997a), Lira-Torres et al. (2014), Lorenzo et al. (2014), Monterrubio-Rico et al. (2010), Voss (2011), Voss et al. (2013).
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 376, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6603219