Thin-spined porcupines appear to have discerning palates. Like humans, they are often fans of the flavor of cocoa and are commonly found near cocoa trees. While they also feed on seeds or fruits when cocoa nuts aren't available, they appear to do so only as a last resort, reports Earth's Endangered Creatures.
While the body of the thin-spined porcupine is, as the name would suggest, covered in thin, bristle-like spines, the tail is not. This creature's tail is actually scaly in texture. Although most porcupines can use their tails to hang from trees, the thin-spined porcupine lacks the prehensile tail structure necessary to use the tail for this purpose and is not technically a porcupine at all.
Although the thin-spined porcupine is certainly a creature of interest to biologists, little is known about it. Because the creature is both rare and nocturnal, it has not proven easy to study the animal. This lack of available observation time has resulted in a dearth of information about the animal's social and reproductive habits.
Although the thin-spined porcupine can move quickly when necessary, it is not known for its speed. This animal is similar to a sloth in rate of motion, perhaps making it a good thing that its body is covered in protective spines.
Although the spines that cover the thin-spined porcupine keep it relatively safe, the animal is still threatened due to deforestation. Because the thin-spined porcupine calls the rainforest home, the creature is one of the many at risk as a result of decreasing rainforest acreage.