Accepted taxon: Atherurus africanus
Accepted taxon: Atherurus africanus
| Taxon: |
Atherurus africanus |
| Rank: |
Species |
| Higher Classification: |
RODENTIA | HYSTRICOMORPHA | HYSTRICOGNATHI | Hystricidae | Atherurus |
| Reference: |
Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005. |
Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Atherurus africanus diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 17, ASH (Ash contents) 6, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 62, CP (Crude Protein) 9, EE (Ether Extract) 4.
See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets.
Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15.
[DOI]
Table 1. List of Diet Items for Atherurus africanus.
| TSN Complete name |
Part |
Ratio a. |
Reference(s) |
| Magnoliopsida |
ROOT |
38.70 |
Damuth, J… |
| Magnoliopsida |
FRUIT |
17.92 |
Damuth, J… |
| Magnoliopsida |
BARK |
9.09 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Magnoliopsida |
STEM |
7.14 |
Damuth, J… |
| Ipomoea batatas |
ROOT |
6.36 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Magnoliopsida |
LEAF |
5.45 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Elaeis |
SEED |
4.76 |
Damuth, J… |
| Lilianae |
ROOT |
4.55 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Musa |
FRUIT |
2.73 |
Grzimek,B… |
| Magnoliopsida |
SEED |
2.38 |
Damuth, J… |
| Vertebrata |
CARRION |
0.91 |
Grzimek,B… |
a. Standardized values.
See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets.
Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15.
[DOI]
Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Atherurus africanus.
| Trait |
Selected Value |
All Value(s) |
Reference(s) |
|
Locomotion: Eisenberg 1981
|
Arboreal
|
Arboreal
|
– C. J. Clark, J. R. Poulsen, V. T. Parker, 2001, 'The Role of Arboreal Seed Dispersal Groups on the Seed Rain of a Lowland Tropical Forest1', Biotropica, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 606-620
|
|
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981
|
Frugivore-Granivore
|
Frugivore-Granivore
|
– C. J. Clark, J. R. Poulsen, V. T. Parker, 2001, 'The Role of Arboreal Seed Dispersal Groups on the Seed Rain of a Lowland Tropical Forest1', Biotropica, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 606-620
|
|
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009
|
Frugivore
|
Frugivore
|
– C. J. Clark, J. R. Poulsen, V. T. Parker, 2001, 'The Role of Arboreal Seed Dispersal Groups on the Seed Rain of a Lowland Tropical Forest1', Biotropica, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 606-620
|
Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Atherurus africanus.
| Measurement |
Location |
Unit |
n Total |
n Unknown |
n Female |
n Male |
Min |
Mean |
Max |
SD |
Reference(s) |
| Body Mass (BM) |
nan |
g |
2 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
3,341.17 |
- |
- |
Engelman,… |
| Head-Body Length (HBL) |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
521 |
- |
- |
Engelman,… |
| Occipital condyle width (OCW) |
nan |
mm |
2 |
2 |
- |
- |
- |
21.58 |
- |
- |
Engelman,… |
Table 4. List of other Measurements b. for Atherurus africanus.
| Measurement |
Location |
Unit |
n Total |
n Unknown |
n Female |
n Male |
Min |
Mean |
Max |
SD |
Reference(s) |
| brainmass |
nan |
g |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
22 |
- |
- |
Engelman,… |
| skull_length |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
89 |
- |
- |
Engelman,… |
| femur circumference |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
23 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
| femur diameter |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
9 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
| humerus circumference |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
17 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
| humerus diameter |
nan |
mm |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
Nelson, A… |
b. other Measurements.
Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..
Table 5. List of Data Sources for Atherurus africanus.
| Taxon |
Reference |
Match |
Status |
| Atherurus africanus |
Clark,CJ, 2001, The Role of Arboreal Seed Dispersal Groups on the Seed Rain of a Lowland Tropical Forest1, Biotropica |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Atherurus africanus |
Damuth, J. 2010. ABSOLUT 6 a mammalian database compiled by the national center for ecological analysis and synthesis (NCEAS ) workshop on mammalian communities. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Atherurus africanus |
Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V, |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Atherurus africanus |
Engelman, R.K., 2022. Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals. BMC biology, 20(1), p.37. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Atherurus africanus |
Nelson, A., Engelman, R.K. and Croft, D.A., 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in extinct clades. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 30(3), pp.773-809. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Atherurus africanus |
Beaudrot, L., Acevedo, M.A., Gorczynski, D. and Harris, N.C., 2024. Geographic differences in body size distributions underlie food web connectance of tropical forest mammals. Scientific Reports, 14(1), pp.1-10. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
| Atherurus africanus |
Rowan, J., Beaudrot, L., Franklin, J., Reed, K.E., Smail, I.E., Zamora, A. and Kamilar, J.M., 2020. Geographically divergent evolutionary and ecological legacies shape mammal biodiversity in the global tropics and subtropics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(3), pp.1559-1565. |
1: Exact Taxon match |
Verified - Accepted |
Citation for this page:
[The MammalBase community 2026. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864
Atherurus africanus
, Accessed 16th April 2026 at https://mammalbase.net/me/9798]