Porcupines Are Uniquely Designed Creatures
by Owen Borville
July 8, 2020
Biology
Porcupines are uniquely designed creatures. Their quills are being studied by medical researchers for new equipment.
Porcupines range from two pounds to 77 pounds in weight and measure about 15 to 36 inches long. The North African crested porcupine grows to 36 inches long. A porcupine has about 30,000 sharp quills on its body mixed with softer hairs. Baby porcupines are born with soft quills that harden in a few days and leave their mothers after six months.
Old world porcupines of Europe, Africa, and Asia are not good climbers but are good swimmers. New World porcupines of the Americas are good tree climbers with their tails keeping them from falling. Porcupines are nocturnal creatures and rest in hollow trees and logs during the day. At night, they come out and eat tree bark, grass, twigs, stems, and berries.
Porcupines are large rodents with sharp spines, or quills, covering their body that help protect it against predators. Their quills have a unique sharp microscopic barbed scale structure that causes them to become painfully embedded in the skin and become difficult to remove, which is another product of good design. The barbs catch the flesh and spread outward when pulled back. The quills can grow up to a foot to 20 inches long but the New World porcupine quills are shorter. The porcupine may shake the quills, causing them to rattle to warn predators. Nerves and muscles on the porcupine's body control when the quills are raised during an attack. The quills are embedded so well into the dog or victim that veterinarians usually need pliers to remove them.
Evolutionists have difficulty describing how the barbed quills evolved. The design of the quills is exactly what the porcupine needs to defend itself and stop future attacks. Laboratory work has shown that barbed quills require 50 percent less force to penetrate skin than non-barbed quills. The barbs act like anchors and require four times as much force to remove than non-barbed quills. The barbed quills are easily inserted in skin and difficult to remove. This unique design of this defense mechanism could not be a random accident, but only the work of an Intelligent Designer who had the animal in mind. The porcupine quills are actually being studied in medical research to develop design for needles and tissue adhesives.
The quills do not stop predators like dogs from eating the porcupines, but the dogs usually find themselves with many quills imbedded in their bodies that cause much pain. Porcupines cannot shoot the quills as once thought, but the quills become easily detached when touched and cause harm and pain to predators. When the porcupine loses quills during an attack, it can grow them back. Porcupine quills are not poisonous but simply cause much pain. Quills can cause internal damage if not removed. Other predators of porcupines include wolves, big cats, and great horned owls. Porcupines also have a bad smell that is released to warn predators.
Almost all porcupines in the world have a prehensile tail that helps in grabbing tree branches and preventing falling on its quills. Only the North American porcupine does not have the prehensile tail. However, the North American porcupine produces an antibiotic to help prevent infection from self-induced quill sticks.
by Owen Borville
July 8, 2020
Biology
Porcupines are uniquely designed creatures. Their quills are being studied by medical researchers for new equipment.
Porcupines range from two pounds to 77 pounds in weight and measure about 15 to 36 inches long. The North African crested porcupine grows to 36 inches long. A porcupine has about 30,000 sharp quills on its body mixed with softer hairs. Baby porcupines are born with soft quills that harden in a few days and leave their mothers after six months.
Old world porcupines of Europe, Africa, and Asia are not good climbers but are good swimmers. New World porcupines of the Americas are good tree climbers with their tails keeping them from falling. Porcupines are nocturnal creatures and rest in hollow trees and logs during the day. At night, they come out and eat tree bark, grass, twigs, stems, and berries.
Porcupines are large rodents with sharp spines, or quills, covering their body that help protect it against predators. Their quills have a unique sharp microscopic barbed scale structure that causes them to become painfully embedded in the skin and become difficult to remove, which is another product of good design. The barbs catch the flesh and spread outward when pulled back. The quills can grow up to a foot to 20 inches long but the New World porcupine quills are shorter. The porcupine may shake the quills, causing them to rattle to warn predators. Nerves and muscles on the porcupine's body control when the quills are raised during an attack. The quills are embedded so well into the dog or victim that veterinarians usually need pliers to remove them.
Evolutionists have difficulty describing how the barbed quills evolved. The design of the quills is exactly what the porcupine needs to defend itself and stop future attacks. Laboratory work has shown that barbed quills require 50 percent less force to penetrate skin than non-barbed quills. The barbs act like anchors and require four times as much force to remove than non-barbed quills. The barbed quills are easily inserted in skin and difficult to remove. This unique design of this defense mechanism could not be a random accident, but only the work of an Intelligent Designer who had the animal in mind. The porcupine quills are actually being studied in medical research to develop design for needles and tissue adhesives.
The quills do not stop predators like dogs from eating the porcupines, but the dogs usually find themselves with many quills imbedded in their bodies that cause much pain. Porcupines cannot shoot the quills as once thought, but the quills become easily detached when touched and cause harm and pain to predators. When the porcupine loses quills during an attack, it can grow them back. Porcupine quills are not poisonous but simply cause much pain. Quills can cause internal damage if not removed. Other predators of porcupines include wolves, big cats, and great horned owls. Porcupines also have a bad smell that is released to warn predators.
Almost all porcupines in the world have a prehensile tail that helps in grabbing tree branches and preventing falling on its quills. Only the North American porcupine does not have the prehensile tail. However, the North American porcupine produces an antibiotic to help prevent infection from self-induced quill sticks.
