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WEEKLY NEWS 3: Porcupine Gender

Determining the gender of a porcupine at birth can be a bit prickly, but scientists at a zoo in Washington, D.C., believe they have discovered a way to successfully determine it based on DNA testing.

On May 17, 2005, experts at the National Zoo said they have been able to effectively find out the sex by closely examining porcupine quills. The new test is the first of its kind in the industry.

Quills are the barbed points that a porcupine uses to defend itself against its enemies. Whenever something gets too close, the porcupine deposits the quill into the predator.

Previously, because a porcupine’s organs are internal, or inside its body, scientists had to wait for nearly six weeks before they could distinguish if the animal was a boy or girl. But because of the new testing, they can find out gender in about a week’s time.

Zoo spokeswoman Peper Long told the Associated Press that the porcupines were held in special gloves and that no animal was hurt in the testing process. The DNA was extracted from samples of small tissue located in the quill’s follicle.

--Written by Leah Williams

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