Why do porcupines have quills?
Show answer & explanation
Answer: Defense against predators
Defense against predators ✓ — Correct! Quills are modified hairs with barbed tips. When threatened, porcupines raise their quills. If a predator attacks, quills detach and embed painfully. They can't shoot quills—that's a myth—but quills release easily on contact!
To attract mates — Wrong. Quills aren't for mating displays. They're purely defensive.
Quills sense surroundings — Wrong. Quills don't function as sensors. Regular hairs and whiskers serve that purpose.
More Animal Behavior questions
- Why can the same soft barn-owl feathers that mute flight make rainy hunting worse?
- Why is silent flight useful even if a mouse never hears the owl coming?
- Besides ordinary airflow noise, what sound can the velvety surface on owl flight feathers help reduce?
- At high wing angles, why can the comb-like feathers on an owl's leading edge make airflow quieter?
- What lets a barn owl glide slowly and quietly, apart from its fringed, velvety feathers?
- Male platypuses have venomous ankle spurs. Why are they probably not mainly prey-hunting tools?