Hystrix (Hystrix) cristata Linnaeus 1758

Hystrix (Hystrix) cristata Linnaeus 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 56.

Type Locality: "Asia", restricted to near Rome, Italy by Thomas (1911 a:141) .

Vernacular Names: Crested Porcupine.

Synonyms: Hystrix (Hystrix) aerula Thomas 1925; Hystrix (Hystrix) ambigua Lonnberg 1908; Hystrix (Hystrix) conradsi Muller 1910; Hystrix (Hystrix) cuvieri Gray 1847; Hystrix (Hystrix) daubentoni Cuvier 1822; Hystrix (Hystrix) europaea Kerr 1792; Hystrix (Hystrix) galeata Thomas 1893; Hystrix (Hystrix) lademanni Muller 1910; Hystrix (Hystrix) lonnbergi Muller 1910; Hystrix (Hystrix) occidanea Cabrera 1924; Hystrix (Hystrix) senegalica Cuvier 1822; Hystrix (Hystrix) somalensis Lonnberg 1912 .

Distribution: Morocco to Egypt; Senegal to Ethiopia and N Tanzania; Sicily, Italy, Albania, and N Greece (European population possibly introduced). Sympatric with H. africaeaustralis in C Africa.

Conservation: CITES – Appendix III (Ghana); IUCN – Lower Risk (nt).

Discussion: Subgenus Hystrix . Includes galeata; see Corbet (1978 c:159) and Corbet and Jones (1965). Allen (1939:441) commented on the status of cuvieri in N Africa. Karyotype has 2n=60-66 and FN=112-116 (George, 1980; George and Weir, 1974).