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Observations of the Stump-tailed Porcupine Coendou rufescens in the Andes of Colombia. A Details of the female genitalia B, C Feeding on Cecropia angustifolia D Active walk searching for food E–G Use of the tail for holding on to the tree H Details of the position of the tree during walking I Detail of walking activity on a paved road.
Source publication
Porcupines of the genus Coendou are among the least studied mammals in the Neotropics. The Stump-tailed Porcupine, Coendou rufescens, is distributed in the Andean region from Colombia and south to Bolivia. Despite its wide distribution, nothing is known about its natural history, besides observation of banana consumption in captivity. Here we prese...
Citations
... The SU, which is defined as an evagination in the upper part of the penis which is everted during sexual activity (Contreras et al. 1993), is present in C. rufescens, similarly to the pattern observed in C. quichua and other hystricomorph rodents (Adebayo et al. 2011;Atalar and Ceribasi 2006;Dathe 1937;Hooper 1961;Leon-Alvarado and Ramírez-Chaves 2017;Pocock 1922;Tullberg 1899). Finally, our observations on the tail morphology agree with previous observations (Alberico et al. 1999;Ramírez-Chaves et al. 2020;Voss 2011) of a functional and prehensile capability despite the small size. ...
The stump-tailed porcupine, Coendou rufescens , is a widely distributed but scarcely documented species inhabiting the Andean region of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and an isolated population in Bolivia. Despite the wide distribution different aspects on its biology and ecology are still unknown. We present an update to the distribution of C. rufescens , and recent observations on the anatomy, natural history, and conservation in Colombia. For this, we described the male genitalia and present data on reproductive periods, plants used and consumed, and threats. The distribution of C. rufescens comprises 12 ecoregions in an area of 376,225 km ² for the northern group (Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) and 393 km ² for the southern group (Bolivia). The highest elevational record is in Ecuador (4387 m), being the porcupine inhabiting at highest elevations. The anatomy of the glans is similar to that observed in Coendou quichua and constitutes the second species of Coendou with available information on glans morphology. C. rufescens consumes fruits and leaves of potato cider ( Sechium edule : Cucurbitaceae) and woody shrub ( Bejaria : Ericacea), and usually perches even in exotic species such as pines. Finally, common treats for the species in Colombia are related to hunting pressures, predation by domestic dogs, and roadkills.
... Se defienden con espinas (pelos modificados) y se pasan el día descansando en las ramas de árboles o en cavidades de los mismos (Roberts et al. 1985;Puertas et al. 1995;Stankowich & Campbell 2016;Ramírez-Chaves et al. 2020a). Su alimentación se basa en hojas, cortezas, frutas y semillas inmaduras (Alberico & Moreno 2006;Voss 2015;Cortés-Suárez 2020;Ramírez-Chaves et al. 2020b). Aunque son difíciles de observar, se presume que pueden ser abundantes en los bosques de América (Voss et al. 2013;Racero-Casarrubia et al. 2016). ...
Nuevos registros del puercoespín colicorto (Coendou rufescens: Erethizontidae) en los municipios de Calarcá, Filandia y Quimbaya en el departamento del Quindío Resumen El puercoespín colicorto (Coendou rufescens) es un roedor de la familia Erethizontidae, caracterizado por su cola corta y dorso marrón negruzco o marrón rojizo. Su distribución en Colombia se ha documentado en las tres cordilleras de los Andes, incluyendo departamentos como Caldas y Risaralda. En Quindío, los registros de esta especie son escasos y se restringen a los municipios de Armenia y Génova. En este trabajo, se reporta la presencia de C. rufescens en nuevas localidades del departamento del Quindío a partir de evidencia fotográfica, en los municipios de Calarcá, Filandia y Quimbaya, donde se observaron siete individuos en zonas de bosque secundario, carreteras y veredas aledañas a los cascos urbanos. Estos registros son claves para estudios sobre el estado poblacional y aspectos ecológicos de la especie.
... Furthermore, we obtained photo-vouchers and videos donated by local people and CHEC staff taken at the study area between 2014 and 2019 pre-and post-workshops. We used the photographs to complete the information on the mammal species of the study area, a technique that has been also implemented in other studies to obtain additional data on mammals from Colombia (Ramírez-Chaves et al. 2020a, 2020bTorres-Martínez et al. 2020). ...
The Coffee Region of Colombia is one of the most representative areas of the country due to its cultural appeal. 200 of the 528 mammal species in the country occur in this region. Pre-existing knowledge about the group in this region has been obtained through indirect and direct sampling methods. We present new records of mammals of the "Reserva Forestal Protectora Bosques de la Central Hidroeléc-trica de Caldas (CHEC)", located in the Coffee Region, based on vouchered citizen science records. To accomplish this, we held training workshops on the relevance of information provided by non-invasive vouchers for mammal collections that include bone remains, hairs, skin and other signs that can be found incidentally in the field by park rangers and other staff of the Reserve. In addition, we included photographic and video records of mammals taken by park rangers before and after the training workshops. We added vouchers obtained by the park rangers to the biological collection of the Natural History Museum of the Universidad de Caldas (MHN-UCa). Using this method, we obtained records of 34 mammalian species belonging to 20 families and 11 orders. We highlight the obtention of museum preserved vouchers of the Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo, Cabassous centralis (Miller 1899), and the Cauca Slender Opossum, Marmosops caucae (Thomas 1900), that had limited samples in national collections or had not been previously collected in the study area. With this work, a contribution network with the CHEC reserve staff was established, promoting the inclusion of these agents in the development of scientific research, and showing the relevance of collaborative science in assisting with filling information gaps about medium and large mammals.
... Furthermore, we obtained photo-vouchers and videos donated by local people and CHEC staff taken at the study area between 2014 and 2019 pre-and post-workshops. We used the photographs to complete the information on the mammal species of the study area, a technique that has been also implemented in other studies to obtain additional data on mammals from Colombia (Ramírez-Chaves et al. 2020a, 2020bTorres-Martínez et al. 2020). ...
The Coffee Region of Colombia is one of the most representative areas of the country due to its cultural appeal. 200 of the 528 mammal species in the country occur in this region. Pre-existing knowledge about the group in this region has been obtained through indirect and direct sampling methods. We present new records of mammals of the “Reserva Forestal Protectora Bosques de la Central Hidroeléctrica de Caldas (CHEC)”, located in the Coffee Region, based on vouchered citizen science records. To accomplish this, we held training workshops on the relevance of information provided by non-invasive vouchers for mammal collections that include bone remains, hairs, skin and other signs that can be found incidentally in the field by park rangers and other staff of the Reserve. In addition, we included photographic and video records of mammals taken by park rangers before and after the training workshops. We added vouchers obtained by the park rangers to the biological collection of the Natural History Museum of the Universidad de Caldas (MHN-UCa). Using this method, we obtained records of 34 mammalian species belonging to 20 families and 11 orders. We highlight the obtention of museum preserved vouchers of the Northern Naked-tailed Armadillo, Cabassous centralis (Miller 1899), and the Cauca Slender Opossum, Marmosops caucae (Thomas 1900), that had limited samples in national collections or had not been previously collected in the study area. With this work, a contribution network with the CHEC reserve staff was established, promoting the inclusion of these agents in the development of scientific research, and showing the relevance of collaborative science in assisting with filling information gaps about medium and large mammals.
Los puercoespines (Coendou, Erethizontidae), son uno de los mamíferos menos estudiados por sus hábitos arborícolas y nocturnos. Se tiene confirmada la presencia de tres especies para Bolivia: Coendou longicaudatus boliviensis, C. bicolor y C. rufescens. Se tiene poca información sobre la ecología, historia natural y distribución de estas especies en Bolivia, con solo seis registros de puerco espín de cola corta (C. rufescens) en los departamentos de Santa Cruz y Cochabamba. Este trabajo reporta la presencia y el patrón de actividad de C. rufescens en el departamento de La Paz en el Valle de Acero Marka, Bolivia. Se instalaron 62 estaciones de cámaras trampa, acumulando un esfuerzo de muestreo de 3.696,81 trampas noche, obteniendo un total de 66 fotografías y 10 eventos independientes. Este estudio es el primero para el departamento de La Paz y amplía la distribución de C. rufescens hacia el oeste de Bolivia específicamente a orillas del río Aceromarka en los Yungas, a una altitud de 3.195 m. Además, reportamos un patrón de actividad predominantemente nocturno con registros entre las 20:26 h y 02:24 h.
The New World porcupines of the genus Coendou comprise 16 species of arboreal nocturnal rodents. Some of these species are poorly known and have not been included in phy-logenetic analyses. Based on recently collected specimens with associated tissue from the Brazilian Amazonia, we investigate the distribution and phylogenetic relationships of Roosmalens' dwarf porcupine, Coendou roosmalenorum, using an integrative approach using mitochondrial gene sequences and morphological data from new specimens and localities. Our results recovered C. roosmalenorum in the subgenus Caaporamys. However, analyses of our molecular and combined datasets produced different topologies. The new record shows the presence of C. roosmalenorum 480 km to the southeast of the Rio Madeira and 95 km away from Rio Juruena in Mato Grosso state, indicating a wider distribution in southern Amazonia than suspected. All known records of C. roosmalenorum are in the Madeira biogeographical province, to which it might be endemic.
El puercoespín Coendou rufescens es un roedor de hábitos arborícolas y locomoción trepadora, pero pueden desplazarse con facilidad en el suelo de manera ocasional, lo cual los hace vulnerables a las colisiones por atropellamiento en áreas naturales inmersas en zonas urbanas con alto flujo vehicular. En este trabajo se presenta el caso de atropellamiento de un puercoespín macho adulto en el norte de la Cordillera Central de Colombia, mediante la implementación de una evaluación radiográfica y post mortem. El estudio radiológico evidenció múltiples fracturas a nivel de cráneo, extremidades anteriores, parrilla costal derecha y los cuerpos vertebrales. La necropsia mostró múltiples lesiones en el sistema tegumentario, músculo esquelético y sistema nervioso, incluyendo la presencia de politraumatismo en cabeza y cuello, con pérdida de la parte superior del cráneo y la ruptura del corazón a nivel de ambos atrios. Los hallazgos más importantes incluyeron el estallido cardíaco y la fragmentación del cráneo, siendo difícil establecer la causa específica de muerte.
Sarcoptic mange is a highly contagious, worldwide disease that affects the skin of mammals, including humans. It is caused by the mite Sarcoptes scabiei, however, the information available in wild mammal populations in the world, and particularly in Colombia is limited. Here, we document a new case of sarcoptic mange in an Andean porcupine (Coendou quichua) from the Andean region of Colombia. We morphologically and molecularly confirmed the mite as S. scabiei and documented the histopathology associated with scabies, and show the different stages of the life cycle of S. scabiei from the Andean porcupine skin samples. Our review of reports of additional cases of scabies in wild mammal species in South America showed 15 species, mostly carnivores, artiodactyls, and rodents. Considering the limited information in Colombia, it is urgent to evaluate the risk of this condition on mammals which would contribute to the epidemiological knowledge and the potential implications of sarcoptic mange in the ecology and conservation of wild mammals in the country.
The improvement of transportation networks by road twinning is a major trend worldwide, but also brings possible threats to wildlife that have not been thoroughly assessed. The present study aims to evaluate how the changes in structural characteristics during road twinning affect roadkill rates of dwarf hairy porcupines (Coendou spinosus) in the southeast portion of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a major world biodiversity hotspot. The dataset for this study comes from monthly monitoring campaigns, carried out between 2013 and 2018, in the BR-101/RJ Norte (km 84–124), a major highway located in Rio de Janeiro state. The influences of structural modifications by road twinning (number of lanes, presence of road barrier, traffic, presence of construction operations, number of native vegetation on both margins of the road, sampling period) in the species roadkill rates were evaluated by means of generalized linear mixed effects models (GLMMs) selected based on an information theoretical approach. The average roadkill rate was 0.015 porcupine individuals/km/day of sampling and presented a trend of increase during the expansion works and decrease after the conclusion of road twinning and lane widening. Model averaging showed that presence of Jersey barriers, number of lanes, construction works for twinning, and traffic were the most influential variables for roadkill rate. An emergency measure to minimize the impact of Jersey barriers could be the implementation of escape mechanisms alongside Jersey blocks that could enable animals to cross the divider. We also propose other mitigation measures, such as the installation protective fences and safe passages, and draw insights into the behavioural responses of porcupines to roads and traffic.
