Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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Unravelling Porcupine Ancestry. The old zoogeographers used porcupines To help document continental drift. However the two species are not closely related. Their quills evolved independently through convergent evolution. African porcupines are in the Old World family Hystricidae, While the American species belongs to The New World family Erethizontidae. The American group is arboreal and has specialized claws With a tail for climbing. The African species has remained on the ground and is terrestrial. The New World species has short, barbed quills, While the African one has longer, smooth quills. However, both are in the infraorder Hystricognathi, Within the very diverse Order Rodentia. It looks like the continental drift hypothesis is out the window! Frank Maurer 22 February 2026 1700 Hours.