Coendou vossi
| Coendou vossi | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Erethizontidae |
| Genus: | Coendou |
| Species: | C. vossi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Coendou vossi Ramírez-Chávez et al, 2025
| |
Coendou vossi, commonly known as Voss’ porcupine, is a small porcupine of the Coendou genus endemic to Colombia.
Distribution
Specimens of Coendou vossi can be found in the humid and dry forests of the Magdalena River Valley.[1] It inhabits dry areas of the departments of Caldas, Cesar, Cundinamarca, Santander, Sucre and Tolima.
Description
Unlike C. quichua and C. rothschildi, to which it is closely related, C. vossi is smaller, measuring between 26 and 33 cm (10 and 13 in). Its tail is more elongated, covering 70% of its body, facilitating arboreal behaviour. The barbs of C. vossi are bicoloured or tricoloured, being lighter at the base, measuring 27 to 55 mm (1.1 to 2.2 in). On the face they measure 5 to 10 mm (0.2 to 0.4 in).[2]
The back has a sparse dark brown coat, darker than the other species with which it has been confused in the past. Its skull is less elongated.[2]
References
- ^ Ramírez-Chaves, Héctor E; Mazepa, Glib O; Morales-Martínez, Darwin M; Suárez-Castro, Andrés Felipe; Colmenares-Pinzón, Javier E; Pulido-Santacruz, Paola; Noguera-Urbano, Elkin A (2025-01-03). Moratelli, Ricardo (ed.). "A review of the Quichua Porcupine Coendou quichua complex (Rodentia: Erethizontidae) with the description of a new species from Colombia". Journal of Mammalogy. 106 (3): 764–781. doi:10.1093/jmammal/gyae140. ISSN 0022-2372.
- ^ a b Caicedo, Edwin (2025-02-07). "Descubren en Colombia una nueva especie de puercoespín, el Coendou vossi: ¿cuáles son sus características?". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 2025-02-11.