Crested porcupine
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A newborn crested porcupine has soft quills that later become hard.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Crested porcupine
- Scientific name
- Hystrix cristata
- Japanese name
- アフリカタテガミヤマアラシ
- Group
- Land mammals
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Hystricidae
- Genus
- Hystrix
It lives mainly in Africa and is related to rats and mice. Its quills are hairs that have changed into spines.
The tips of its quills are sharp and come out easily, but they are not poisonous, and it cannot shoot them.
When an enemy comes, it rattles the hollow quills on its tail to threaten it; if that fails, it raises its quills and charges backward.
How the Crested porcupine lives
They are active at night. They eat plant roots, bulbs and fallen fruit. They also gnaw on bones to sharpen their front teeth. Parents and their young share a complex system of burrows.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Head and body length: 60–90 cm
- Weight
- 15–27 kg
- Diet
- Roots, bulbs, fruit, and other foods
- Range
- North-central Africa and the Mediterranean coast
Where the Crested porcupine has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 简体中文
- 非洲冕豪猪
- 繁體中文
- 非洲冕豪豬
- 한국어
- 호저
- Español
- Puercoespín crestado
- Français
- Porc-épic à crête
- Deutsch
- Gewöhnliches Stachelschwein
- Português (Brasil)
- Porco-Espinho-com-Crista
- Italiano
- Porcospino
- العربية
- شيهم مبذول
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Jambul
- Русский
- Хохлатый дикобраз
- Türkçe
- Oklu Kirpi
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 上野動物園 — アフリカタテガミヤマアラシChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Hystrix cristataChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Crested porcupine, look for this
- Look for alternating light and dark bands on the thick quills along its sides and back.
- Look for the long whiskers on its face.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebEXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Crested porcupine
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
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