NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Bicolored-spined Porcupine
Coendou bicolor (Tschudi, 1844)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The bicolored-spined porcupine (Coendou bicolor) is a species of nocturnal and arboreal rodent in the family Erethizontidae.
It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The head and body of Coendou bicolor measure about 543 mm (21.4 in), and another 481 mm (18.9 in) is tail. The body is covered with dense spines, pale yellow at the base and black-tipped, and significantly darker on the midback. The bicolored-spined porcupine has a fully prehensile tail that is primarily free of spines.
Wikipedia contributors, Bicolored-spined porcupine; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:03:19.719194+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Coendou bicolor (Tschudi, 1844)
- Name authority
- (Tschudi, 1844)
- Common name
- Bicolored-spined Porcupine
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Rodentia
- Family
- Erethizontidae
- Genus
- Coendou
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderRodentia Bowdich, 1821
- suborderHystricomorpha Brandt, 1855
- infraorderHystricognathi Brandt, 1855
- familyErethizontidae Bonaparte, 1845
- subfamilyErethizontinae Bonaparte, 1845
- genusCoendou Lacépède, 1799
- speciesCoendou bicolor (Tschudi, 1844)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Coendou. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Baturite PorcupineCoendou baturitensis Feijó & Langguth, 2013 | ErethizontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Streaked Dwarf PorcupineCoendou ichillus Voss & da Silva, 2001 | ErethizontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bahia PorcupineCoendou insidiosus (Olfers, 1818) | ErethizontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Mexican Hairy Dwarf PorcupineCoendou mexicanus (Kerr, 1792) | ErethizontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Short-tailed PorcupineCoendou rufescens (Gray, 1865) | ErethizontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Brazilian PorcupineCoendou prehensilis (Linnaeus, 1758) | ErethizontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Coendou bicolor bicolor (Tschudi, 1844) (Tschudi, 1844) | synonym |
| Coendou bicolor simonsi Thomas, 1902 Thomas, 1902 | synonym |
| Sphiggurus bicolor Tschudi, 1844 Tschudi, 1844 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=584692 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:WTYR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.