Q 01/05

Which popular belief about porcupine quills, often repeated in stories and on screen, is actually a myth?

A) They detach easily

B) They can be shot

C) They grow back when lost

D) They are modified hairs

Answer · why

B) They can be shot

The idea that they can be shot is the myth: quills are only loosely attached, so they come away on contact when a predator touches the animal or its l...

Q 02/05

What is the name for a baby porcupine, born with soft quills that soon harden?

A) Spinelet

B) Quillet

C) Porcupette

D) Porcupling

Answer · why

C) Porcupette

A porcupette usually arrives alone: North American porcupines give birth to a single young, which can climb and forage after about two weeks.

Q 03/05

Porcupine quills are modified hairs made of which protein, also found in human hair and fingernails?

A) Keratin

B) Collagen

C) Elastin

D) Myosin

Answer · why

A) Keratin

Keratin forms every quill, and a muscle at the base of each one lets a porcupine stand its spines on end when it is excited or alarmed.

Q 04/05

Roughly how many quills cover the body of an adult North American porcupine?

A) About 30

B) About 300

C) About 3,000

D) About 30,000

Answer · why

D) About 30,000

About 30,000 quills cover everything except the underbelly, face and feet, and they double as insulation through the winter.

Q 05/05

The word porcupine comes from Latin and French roots meaning a thorny version of which animal?

A) Goat

B) Bear

C) Rat

D) Pig

Answer · why

D) Pig

Pig is the root, from the Latin porcus joined to spina for spine, and a regional American nickname for the animal is still quill pig.