Coendou bicolor Tschudi 1844

7.

Bicolor-spined Porcupine

Coendou bicolor

French: Coendou bicolore / German: Stidamerika-Greifstachler / Spanish: Puercoespin bicolor

Other common names: Bicolored-spined Porcupine

Taxonomy. Sphingurus bicolor Tschudi, 1844,

“in den Urwaldern zwischen den Flassen Tullumayo und Chanchamayo,” Junin, Peru.

Recent phylogenetic analysis based on cytochrome-b sequence data suggests that C. bicolor is the sister species of C. nycthemera. Although early studies recognized distinct subspecies of C. bicolor, more recent systematic work justifies placement of C. b. quichua and C. b. richardsoni together as a valid species, C. quichua, and C. b. sanctaemartae as a synonym of C. prehensilis.

Monotypic.

Distribution. E Andean foothills and adjacent Amazonian lowland forests from N Peru (San Martin Region) S to W Bolivia and some isolated populations in relictual montane forests on the W slope of the Andes in N Peru (Cajamarca Region); first recorded in W Brazil in 2013 (Acre State) and possibly in NW Argentina (Jujuy Province). Earlier reports from Amazonas in Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela are based on misidentifications.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 378-500 mm, tail 335-540 mm; weight 3.4-4.7 kg. The Bicolor-spined Porcupine is large and generally blackish. Because it lacks emergent fur, it appears spiny; usually bicolored quills are white toward base and black or brown toward distal one-half. Tips ofspines, if present, are pale and always much shorter than black part of spine. Quills of nape, shoulders, and upper back are longer (¢.80-90 mm) than quills on lower back and rump (smaller or equal to 50 mm). Blackish parts of long anterior quills conceal these lighter colors, resulting in an apparent black mantle and yellowish rump. Sides, tail, legs, and face of the Bicolor-spined Porcupine are usually speckled with pale yellow or white but can be entirely black or dark brown. Tail lengths are ¢.90-105% of head-body length. Ventral side of body is covered with stiff spines and is pale gray-brown, as are feet, although feet also show some white. Frontal sinuses are inflated in most adults, and dorsal roof of external auditory meatus is smooth. Lowland Bicolorspined Porcupines have relatively longer tails, larger hindfeet, and wider nasal apertures than montane individuals.

Habitat. Lowland and montane rainforests.

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 specific information available for this species, but Bicolor-spined Porcupines are probably nocturnal and arboreal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Bicolor-spined Porcupines nest in sleeping sites located in holes or concavities of trees or in entanglements of climbers, vines, epiphytes, and other dense foliage, similar to other arboreal and nocturnal mammals with which they may compete for shelter. Adult pairs den together in tree holes.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Bicolorspined Porcupine is considered rare by some researchers based on its restricted distribution and occurrence at low densities.

Bibliography. Aquino & Encarnacion (1986), Arita et al. (1990), Azevedo-Ramos et al. (2006), Barquez et al. (2006), Dobson & Yu Jinping (1993), Emmons (1997a), de Freitas et al. (2013), Voss (2011, 2015), Voss et al. (2013), Wilson & Reeder (2005).