An extinct north American porcupine with a South American tail

Abstract

New World porcupines (Erethizontinae) originated in South America and dispersed into North America as part of the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) 3-4 million years ago.1 Extant prehensile-tailed porcupines (Coendou) today live in tropical forests of Central and South America.2,3 In contrast, North American porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum) are thought to be ecologically adapted to higher-latitude temperate forests, with a larger body, shorter tail, and diet that includes bark.4,5,6,7 Limited fossils8,9,10,11,12,13 have hindered our understanding of the timing of this ecological differentiation relative to intercontinental dispersal during the GABI and expansion into temperate habitats.14,15,16,17,18 Here, we describe functionally important features of the skeleton of the extinct Erethizon poyeri, the oldest nearly complete porcupine skeleton documented from North America, found in the early Pleistocene of Florida. It differs from extant E.dorsatum in having a long, prehensile tail, grasping foot, and lacking dental specializations for bark gnawing, similar to tropical Coendou. Results from phylogenetic analysis suggest that the more arboreal characteristics found in E.poyeri are ancestral for erethizontines. Only after it expanded into temperate, Nearctic habitats did Erethizon acquire the characteristic features that it is known for today. When combined with molecular estimates of divergence times, results suggest that Erethizon was ecologically similar to a larger species of Coendou when it crossed the Isthmus of Panama by the early Pleistocene. It is likely that the range of this more tropically adapted form was limited to a continuous forested biome that extended from South America through the Gulf Coast.