Erethizon

{{Short description|Genus of rodent}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Porcupine NPS11952.jpg

| image_caption = North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)

| fossil_range = Late Pliocene - Recent

| taxon = Erethizon

| authority = F. Cuvier, 1823

| type_species = Erithrix dorsata{{MSW3|id=13400107}}

| type_species_authority = Linnaeus, 1758

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = *Erethizon dorsatum

• †Erethizon bathygnathum
• †Erethizon cascoensis
• †Erethizon kleini
• †Erethizon poyeri

}}

Erethizon is a genus of New World porcupine and the only one of its family to be found north of southern Mexico. The North American porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) is the only extant species, but at least 4 extinct relatives are known, the oldest dating to the Late Pliocene.{{cite journal |last1=Hulbert |first1=Richard C. |title=A new late Pliocene Porcupine (Rodentia: Erethizontidae) from Florida |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |date=1997 |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=623–626 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1997.10011010 |bibcode=1997JVPal..17..623H |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241730929}} Porcupines entered North America during the Great American Interchange after the Isthmus of Panama rose 3 million years ago.{{cite web|last=Bromley |first=D. |author2=Osborne, T. |title=Porcupine: Alaska Wildlife Notebook Series |publisher=Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game |year=1994 |url=http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/smgame/porky.php |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430043923/http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/smgame/porky.php |archive-date=April 30, 2009 }} Early species of the genus retained an elongate tail, unlike E. dorsatum.{{Cite journal |last1=Vitek |first1=Natasha S. |last2=Hoeflich |first2=Jennifer C. |last3=Magallanes |first3=Isaac |last4=Moran |first4=Sean M. |last5=Narducci |first5=Rachel E. |last6=Perez |first6=Victor J. |last7=Pirlo |first7=Jeanette |last8=Riegler |first8=Mitchell S. |last9=Selba |first9=Molly C. |last10=Vallejo-Pareja |first10=María C. |last11=Ziegler |first11=Michael J. |last12=Granatosky |first12=Michael C. |last13=Hulbert |first13=Richard C. |last14=Bloch |first14=Jonathan I. |date=June 2024 |title=An extinct north American porcupine with a South American tail |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0960982224005827 |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=34 |issue=12 |pages=2712–2718.e3 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2024.04.069|pmid=38806055 |bibcode=2024CBio...34.2712V |url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}