Cape Porcupine

It is found in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the southwestern coastal desert.

The Cape porcupine is usually solitary or lives in small family groups of up to six members and is primarily nocturnal. It is the largest rodent in its region and has a body covered with hairs, barbs and spines on the back and flanks. It can erect those located on the ridge at will to appear larger and more menacing. The difference between barbs and spines is mainly the length and thickness. It has sexual dimorphism; females are larger than males.

In the breeding season, the female initiates sexual activity by approaching the male with her tail and rump raised and with her quills shifted sideways, so that he can mount her. The female gives birth to 1 to 4 young after three months of gestation, which are born with soft, flexible quills to facilitate delivery. After ten days the quills acquire their definitive consistency. Both parents care for the young.

Their primary diet is herbivorous and they use their claws to dig up tubers and roots, but sometimes they also feed on carrion and in areas where plants are phosphorus deficient they gnaw bones.

Their defensive behaviors in the face of a threat are to either hide in a burrow with their barbs outward to avoid being grabbed by the predator, or to move towards the attacker by walking backwards and stabbing them with their barbs.