''Hystrix'' is a genus of

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp Spine (zoology), spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two Family (biology), families of animals: the Old World porcupines of the family Hystricidae, and the New ...

s containing most of the

Old World porcupine The Old World porcupines, or Hystricidae, are large terrestrial rodents, distinguished by the spiny covering from which they take their name. They range over Southern Europe and the Levant, most of Africa, India, and Southeast Asia as far east a ...

s. Fossils belonging to the genus date back to the late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

of Africa. Hystrix (from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

ὕστριξ (hústrix, “porcupine”) was given name by the 18th-century Swedish

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

Species

* Genus ''Hystrix'' **Subgenus ''Hystrix'' ***'' Hystrix africaeaustralis'' - Cape porcupine ***'' Hystrix cristata'' - African crested porcupine ***''

Hystrix indica The Indian crested porcupine (''Hystrix indica'') is a hystricomorph rodent species native to southern Asia and the Middle East. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It belongs to the Old World porcupine family, Hystricidae. Des ...

'' - Indian crested porcupine **Subgenus ''Acanthion'' ***'' Hystrix brachyura'' - Malayan porcupine or Himalayan crestless porcupine ***'' Hystrix javanica'' - Sunda porcupine **Subgenus ''Thecurus'' ***'' Hystrix crassispinis'' - thick-spined porcupine ***'' Hystrix pumila'' - Philippine porcupine ***'' Hystrix sumatrae'' - Sumatran porcupine

Fossil species

*†'' Hystrix arayanensis'' - Late Miocene *†'' Hystrix depereti'' - Pliocene *†'' Hystrix paukensis'' - Late Miocene-Pliocene *†'' Hystrix primigenia'' - Late Miocene-Pliocene *†'' Hystrix refossa'' - Pleistocene *†'' Hystrix suevica'' - Late Miocene

References

*Nowak, Ronald M. (1999), ''Walker's Mammals of the World'', 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp. * * * {{Taxonbar, from=Q650703 Hystricidae Rodent genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus