Coendou prehensilis (Linnaeus 1758)

[Hystrix] prehensilis Linnaeus 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 57.

Type Locality: Brazil, Pernambuco.

Vernacular Names: Brazilian Porcupine.

Synonyms: Coendou boliviensis Gray 1850; Coendou brandtii Jentink 1879; Coendou centralis Thomas 1903; Coendou cuandu Desmarest 1822; Coendou longicatus Lacépède 1799; Coendou platycentrotus Brandt 1835; Coendou sanctamartae Allen 1904; Coendou tricolor Gray 1850 .

Distribution: E Venezuela, Guyanas, C and E Brazil, N Argentina, Uruguay, E Paraguay, Bolivia, Trinidad (see Goodwin and Greenhall, 1961:202); up to 1,500 m.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Emmons and Feer (1997:217) suggested that centralis and sanctamartae may be valid species and Alberico et al. (1999) considered sanctamartae a distinct species. Voss and da Silva (2001) suggested prehensilis may represent a complex of closely related species. Karyotype has 2n=74 and FN=82 (Lima, 1994).