• animal communication
• bioacoustics
• Hystrix cristata
• social behaviour

African crested porcupines (Hystrix cristata) are large, nocturnal, monogamous rodents that, like other members of the Hystricidae family, have their bodies covered in long quills that they can raise and attack with if threatened. However, unique to all but one species of this family is the presence of modified quills clustered only on their tail. These rattle quills have an enlarged, hollow portion open at one end. These quills vibrate on certain occasions, and their shape allows the production of a characteristic sound called rattling, emitted during the defence display. Apart from rattling, vocalizations emitted by African crested porcupines (i.e. snorts and growls) have been rarely mentioned in the literature. To our knowledge, no systematic description of their acoustic repertoire exists, nor is any study on their role in communication. We gathered sounds emitted by 13 captive individuals by recording their spontaneous behavior with the aims to provide a systematic description of vocal and non-vocal sounds emitted by African crested porcupines, and investigate whether and how these sounds have a role in social recognition. We also analysed morphometric data regarding rattle quills (collected in the wild over a period of several years) to have a more comprehensive understanding of the rattling signal.
Our research shows that the acoustic repertoire of this species is larger and likely more complex than previously assumed, with the potential for some of the sound types to signal identity and age class. African crested porcupines are social rodents living in family groups, and as in other social species of mammals, recognition abilities are crucial for regulating interactions between conspecifics. Since they also possess unique adaptations for sound production, this species could represent an exciting model, among rodents, for studying acoustic communication.