It is hard to guess what a North American porcupine weights. But we have the answer:
An adult North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) on average weights 7.42 kg (16.36 lbs).
The North American porcupine is from the family Erethizontidae (genus: Erethizon). It is usually born with about 491 grams (1.08 lbs). They can live for up to 18 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 83.7 cm (2′ 9″). Usually, North American porcupines have 1 babies per litter.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum), also known as the Canadian porcupine or common porcupine, is a large rodent in the New World porcupine family. The beaver is the only rodent in North America that is larger than the North American porcupine. The porcupine is a caviomorph rodent whose ancestors rafted across the Atlantic from Africa to Brazil over 40 million years ago, and then migrated to North America during the Great American Interchange after the Isthmus of Panama rose 3 million years ago.
Animals of the same family as a North American porcupine
We found other animals of the Erethizontidae family:
- Paraguaian hairy dwarf porcupine bringing 1.75 kilos (3.86 lbs) to the scale
- Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine bringing 2 kilos (4.41 lbs) to the scale
- Bahia porcupine with a weight of 999 grams
- Brazilian porcupine bringing 4.12 kilos (9.08 lbs) to the scale
- Rothschild’s porcupine bringing 2 kilos (4.41 lbs) to the scale
- Black dwarf porcupine bringing 3 kilos (6.61 lbs) to the scale
- Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine bringing 1.9 kilos (4.19 lbs) to the scale
- Black dwarf porcupine bringing 3 kilos (6.61 lbs) to the scale
- Bicolored-spined porcupine bringing 4.49 kilos (9.9 lbs) to the scale
- Brown hairy dwarf porcupine with a weight of 736 grams
Animals with the same weight as a North American porcupine
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Erethizon dorsatum:
- Yellow-tailed woolly monkey with a weight of 8.23 kilos (18.14 lbs)
- Red-faced spider monkey with a weight of 8.7 kilos (19.18 lbs)
- Hairy-nosed otter with a weight of 5.97 kilos (13.16 lbs)
- Yellow-tailed woolly monkey with a weight of 8.27 kilos (18.23 lbs)
- François’ langur with a weight of 8.16 kilos (17.99 lbs)
- Hog badger with a weight of 8.17 kilos (18.01 lbs)
- Grey-cheeked mangabey with a weight of 7.39 kilos (16.29 lbs)
- Jaguarundi with a weight of 6.88 kilos (15.17 lbs)
- North American river otter with a weight of 8.09 kilos (17.84 lbs)
- Black dorcopsis with a weight of 6.2 kilos (13.67 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a North American porcupine
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as North American porcupine:
- Indian muntjac with a size of 99.5 cm (3′ 4″)
- Cameroon clawless otter with a size of 83.7 cm (2′ 9″)
- North American beaver with a size of 75.7 cm (2′ 6″)
- Black-fronted duiker with a size of 94.4 cm (3′ 2″)
- Zebra duiker with a size of 87.5 cm (2′ 11″)
- Hog badger with a size of 69.2 cm (2′ 4″)
- Bornean orangutan with a size of 89 cm (3′ 0″)
- Gray snub-nosed monkey with a size of 70.7 cm (2′ 4″)
- Indri with a size of 73.4 cm (2′ 5″)
- Western long-beaked echidna with a size of 67.5 cm (2′ 3″)
Animals with the same litter size as a North American porcupine
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a North American porcupine:
- Lesser false vampire bat
- Large slit-faced bat
- Proboscis monkey
- Southern dog-faced bat
- Tana River red colobus
- Lander’s horseshoe bat
- Baikal seal
- Brown long-eared bat
- Doria’s tree-kangaroo
- Pallid bat
Animals with the same life expectancy as a North American porcupine
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a North American porcupine:
- Santarem marmoset with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Clouded leopard with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Goitered gazelle with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Giant armadillo with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Lesser mouse-eared bat with an average maximal age of 19.75 years
- Impala with an average maximal age of 17.75 years
- Masked palm civet with an average maximal age of 18 years
- European pine marten with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Common marmoset with an average maximal age of 16.75 years
- Guinea pig with an average maximal age of 14.75 years