How many baby Asiatic brush-tailed porcupines are in a litter?
A Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus) usually gives birth to around 1 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 146 grams (0.32 lbs) and measure 18 cm (0′ 8″). They are a member of the Hystricidae family (genus: Atherurus). An adult Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine grows up to a size of 43.1 cm (1′ 5″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus) is a species of rodent in the family Hystricidae.It is found in China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. The synonyms of this species are Atherurus assamensis (Thomas, 1921), and Atherurus macrourus (Thomas, 1921) subspecies assamensis.It is a nocturnal and fossorial species occurring in subtropical and tropical montane forests. It is found on the forest floor, often in areas with profuse undergrowth interspersed with cane and bamboo brakes and palms (Molur et al. 2005). It constructs burrows, which may be occupied by up to three animals. The female produces one or two litters a year, of a single young, after a gestation period of 100 to 110 days.Known to be one of the rarest porcupines in South Asia, the species is protected under Schedule II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, though not listed in CITES. It has been recorded from Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh, India (Molur et al. 2005). It is present in a number of protected areas in Southeast Asia.
Other animals of the family Hystricidae
Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine is a member of the Hystricidae, as are these animals:
- Malayan porcupine with 1 babies per pregnancy
- African brush-tailed porcupine with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Thick-spined porcupine weighting around 4.59 kilograms (10.12 lbs)
- Indian crested porcupine with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Philippine porcupine becoming 9.5 years old
- Crested porcupine with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Cape porcupine with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Long-tailed porcupine becoming 10.08 years old
Animals that share a litter size with Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine
Those animals also give birth to 1 babies at once:
- Van Gelder’s bat
- Killer whale
- Gemsbok
- Black flying fox
- Cave nectar bat
- Harpy fruit bat
- Red-bellied lemur
- Narrow-striped mongoose
- Klipspringer
- Red fruit bat
Animals with the same weight as a Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine
What other animals weight around 2 kg (4.41 lbs)?
- Coppery ringtail possum usually reaching 1.77 kgs (3.9 lbs)
- Java mouse-deer usually reaching 1.88 kgs (4.14 lbs)
- Equatorial saki usually reaching 2.38 kgs (5.25 lbs)
- Central American agouti usually reaching 2.31 kgs (5.09 lbs)
- Eastern bettong usually reaching 1.66 kgs (3.66 lbs)
- Hoary marmot usually reaching 2.25 kgs (4.96 lbs)
- Lac Alaotra bamboo lemur usually reaching 1.62 kgs (3.57 lbs)
- Burmese hare usually reaching 2.27 kgs (5 lbs)
- Mongoose lemur usually reaching 1.77 kgs (3.9 lbs)
- Smith’s red rock hare usually reaching 2.25 kgs (4.96 lbs)