Old World porcupine

plural Old World porcupines

1. Any of the large, spiny-furred rodents of the family Hystricidae, native to the southern Eurasia and Africa.

   Rodents are represented by four families: squirrels, Old World porcupines, mice and rats, and bamboo rats.

   2008, Barbara A. Holzman, Tropical Forest Biomes, page 115

   2 more examples

   Old World porcupines inhabit much of Africa, southern Europe, and Asia. Old World porcupines are also known to gnaw on bones (Bruno and Riccardi 1995; Nowak 1999; Smithers, Skinner, and Chimimba 2005; Barhelmess 2006; Arslan 2008).

   2010, Peter S. Ungar, Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity, page 211

   Erethizon characteristically takes shelter in rock piles, beneath overhanging rocks, or in hollow logs but (as other New World porcupines) does not dig burrows as do Old World porcupines.

   2011, Terry A. Vaughan, James M. Ryan, Mammalogy, page 227

   Synonyms: hystricid