Porcupine

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/porcupine

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific name?Erethizontidae (New World) and Hystricidae (Old World)
2. What is the diet?Strictly herbivorous, consuming bark, twigs, leaves, buds, fruits, roots, and flowers
3. What are porcupine quills made of?Porcupine quills are made of keratin, a strong protein that makes them hard and sharp. They have tiny backward barbs that help them stay stuck.
4. How do porcupines use their quills to stay safe?When a predator comes close, a porcupine can quickly raise its quills with special muscles. If the predator touches the quills, they stick into the predator and are hard to pull out.

Keratinous Structures: Body parts made of keratin, the same protein found in hair, nails, and horns.
Convergent Evolution: The independent evolution of similar features in species of different lineages.
Obligate Herbivore: An animal that must eat plants to survive; cannot digest meat.
Girdling: The process of removing a strip of bark from around the entire circumference of a tree trunk.