How big does a North American porcupine get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) reaches an average size of 83.7 cm (2′ 9″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). During their lifetime of about 18 years, they grow from 491 grams (1.08 lbs) to 7.42 kg (16.36 lbs). A North American porcupine has 1 babies at once. The North American porcupine (genus: Erethizon) is a member of the family Erethizontidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
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 with a weight of 751 grams
- Bicolored-spined porcupine with 1 babies per litter
- Black dwarf porcupine with a size of 35.2 cm (1′ 2″)
- Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine with a size of 39.8 cm (1′ 4″)
- Brown hairy dwarf porcupine with a weight of 736 grams
- Stump-tailed porcupine with a weight of 832 grams
- Brazilian porcupine with a size of 46.9 cm (1′ 7″)
- Bahia porcupine with a weight of 999 grams
- Mexican hairy dwarf porcupine bringing 2 kilos (4.41 lbs) to the scale
- Rothschild’s porcupine bringing 2 kilos (4.41 lbs) to the scale
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:
- Jungle cat with a size of 70.6 cm (2′ 4″)
- Jaguarundi with a size of 70.4 cm (2′ 4″)
- Common wombat with a size of 98.6 cm (3′ 3″)
- Goa (antelope) with a size of 98 cm (3′ 3″)
- Honey badger with a size of 68.4 cm (2′ 3″)
- African clawless otter with a size of 80.9 cm (2′ 8″)
- Bay duiker with a size of 84.9 cm (2′ 10″)
- Bornean yellow muntjac with a size of 99.5 cm (3′ 4″)
- Hairy-nosed otter with a size of 76.5 cm (2′ 7″)
- Asian golden cat with a size of 89 cm (3′ 0″)
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:
- Bush vlei rat
- Red-bellied lemur
- Black flying fox
- Large flying fox
- Southern forest bat
- De Brazza’s monkey
- Coppery titi
- Spectral tarsier
- Thomson’s gazelle
- Oncilla
Animals with the same life expectancy as a North American porcupine
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a North American porcupine:
- Roe deer with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Yellow-backed duiker with an average maximal age of 17.25 years
- Snow leopard with an average maximal age of 18 years
- Equatorial saki with an average maximal age of 14.83 years
- Impala with an average maximal age of 17.75 years
- Brown hyena with an average maximal age of 17 years
- Koala with an average maximal age of 20 years
- Mexican free-tailed bat with an average maximal age of 15 years
- Red goral with an average maximal age of 18.25 years
- Takin with an average maximal age of 19.5 years
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:
- Hose’s langur with a weight of 6.29 kilos (13.87 lbs)
- Southern river otter with a weight of 7.5 kilos (16.53 lbs)
- Pygmy hog with a weight of 7.92 kilos (17.46 lbs)
- Red-handed howler with a weight of 6.17 kilos (13.6 lbs)
- Grey-cheeked mangabey with a weight of 7.39 kilos (16.29 lbs)
- Goodfellow’s tree-kangaroo with a weight of 7.98 kilos (17.59 lbs)
- Maxwell’s duiker with a weight of 8.56 kilos (18.87 lbs)
- Coypu with a weight of 6.36 kilos (14.02 lbs)
- Lowland paca with a weight of 8.18 kilos (18.03 lbs)
- Pig-tailed langur with a weight of 7.39 kilos (16.29 lbs)