Sphiggurus spinosus (F. Cuvier 1823)

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Rodentia - Family Erethizontidae, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 2, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 1545-1550 : 1549

Sphiggurus spinosus (F. Cuvier 1823)

[Coendou] spinosus F. Cuvier 1823 , Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris, 9: 433.

Type Locality: Paraguay, along the Paraná River.

Vernacular Names: Paraguaian Hairy Dwarf Porcupine.

Synonyms: Sphiggurus affinis (Brandt 1835) ; Sphiggurus nigricans (Brandt 1835) ; Sphiggurus paragayensis (Oken 1816) ; Sphiggurus roberti (Thomas 1902) ; Sphiggurus sericeus (Cope 1889) .

Distribution: Paraguay, S and E Brazil, NE Argentina, Uruguay.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix III ( Uruguay); IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Possibly restricted to the shores of the Paraná River. Formerly included in Coendou ; see Husson (1978) and comments under Sphiggurus . Emmons and Feer (1997:221) considered paragayensis to be a separate species ( Paraguay Hairy Dwarf Porcupine). Cabrera (1961:602) noted that Oken’s names are not recognized, but if Oken’s name is accepted, the type species for Sphiggurus becomes paragayensis (see Tate, 1935:307). Emmons and Feer (1997) included villosus and suggested that spinosus may intergrade with insidosus.