Major range extensions for three species of porcupines (Rodentia: Erethizontidae: Coendou) from the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

<jats:p>Abstract: We report range extensions for three species of Amazonian erethizontids, Coendou bicolor, C. ichillus, and C. nycthemera. We record C. ichillus for the first time in Brazil, from Rio Japurá, state of Amazonas. We record C. bicolor for the first time in the state of Amazonas, which represents a range extension of approximately 905 km. We also extend the occurrence of C. nycthemera 620 km to the south into Mato Grosso state. All records are based on museum specimens, highlighting the importance of scientific collections as biodiversity databases and emphasizing the lack of research on Amazonian porcupines.</jats:p>

Filling distribution gaps: new records of the Brazilian Porcupine, Coendou prehensilis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia, Rodentia), in 10 departments of Colombia

“…A comparison of ICN 123 (from the Department of Boyacá) with specimens of C. bicolor from Peru (FMNH 41204, 65800), and C. prehensilis from Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname, and Trinidad (FMNH 20031, 41205, 43290, 61862, 61863, 95783) showed that ICN 123 is more similar to C. prehensilis than to C. bicolor. Furthermore, the lack of confirmed records of C. bicolor from Colombia (closest records are from the Amazon region of Peru and Brazil; Voss 2015; Menezes et al 2020) and the fact that the only species found to date in Boyacá is C. prehensilis, supports the hypothesis that the ICN 123 skull represents C. prehensilis.…”

“…1), such as large body size and tail (it is the largest species found in Colombia), inflated external nostrils, and tricolored quills (bright yellow at the base, black in the middle, and whitish-yellow at the distal portion), and comparison with specimens deposited in the reviewed collections. Other large species of Coendou in South America are C. bicolor (Tschudi, 1844), which differs from C. prehensilis by lacking the distal bands on its quills and has no tricolored quills on the rump (Voss 2015;Menezes et al 2020), and C. baturitensis Feijó & Langguth, 2013, which is externally similar to C. prehensilis, but endemic to Brazil (Menezes et al 2020).…”

“…The genus Coendou Lacépède, 1799 (Rodentia, Erethizontidae) comprises 14 or 15 species of Neotropical porcupines (Voss 2015;Barthelmess 2016). Most of the richness of the genus is represented in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador (Voss 2015;Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016;Menezes et al 2020). In Colombia, six species NOTES ON GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION of porcupines have been recorded (Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016).…”

Filling distribution gaps: first record of the Western Amazonian Dwarf Porcupine, Coendou ichillus Voss &amp; Da Silva, 2001 (Mammalia, Rodentia), in the Napo Moist Forests ecoregion of Colombia

“…Knowledge on diversity, distribution, and biology of the genus Coendou Lacépède, 1799 (Rodentia, Erethizontidae) in South America has increased in recent years (Voss 2011(Voss , 2015Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016;Menezes et al 2020). Most of the species diversity of the genus is represented in Brazil (10 species), Colombia (6 species), and Ecuador (4 species) (Voss 2015;Barthelmess 2016;Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016;Menezes et al 2020). In Colombia, there are still several gaps on the distribution for most of the species, despite recent works that have updated and clarified the distribution of two species, C. prehensilis (Linnaeus, 1758) and C. vestitus Thomas, 1899(Torres-Martínez et al 2019.…”

Notes on the natural history of the Stump-tailed Porcupine, Coendou rufescens (Rodentia, Erethizontidae), in Colombia

“…Porcupines of the genus Coendou are represented by 16 neotropical species found from Mexico to Uruguay (Voss 2015; Barthelmess 2016). The major species richness is concentrated in Brazil and Colombia with up to 10 and 6 species respectively (Voss 2015;Ramírez-Chaves et al 2016;Menezes et al 2020). Although several recent studies have addressed the diversity of Coendou throughout its distribution (Leite et al 2011;Voss 2015;Barthelmess 2016), the natural history for most of the species is practically unknown (Voss 2015).…”