Megafaunal Rodents: Behaviour and Ecological Roles of Southeast Asian Forest Porcupines

Abstract

Porcupines are the megafauna of Southeast Asia's rodent community and—as such—potentially perform important ecological roles in the rainforest habitats they are common in. We investigated four ecological roles of Malayan porcupines (Hystrix brachyura) and brush-tailed porcupines (Atherurus macrourus) within the Belum–Temenggor rainforest complex of Peninsular Malaysia. First, camera traps placed at four Malayan porcupine and one brush-tailed porcupine burrow showed that the burrows were used in varying ways by at least 22 other animal species. These animals shared the burrow, fed on insects at the entrance or possibly investigated the burrows as predators. Second, seedling surveys on top of the burrows, suggested that burrows might also be good microsites for seedling establishment and growth (as found previously in arid and semi-arid habitats), with a higher species richness and density on the burrows than at control sites. Third, porcupines consumed 80 plant species (identified through Local Ecological Knowledge, or LEK, from the Indigenous community), 65% of which they acted as seed predators for. Fourth, they were seed dispersers of 33% of consumed species—mainly by hoarding—but also dispersed a few species by endozoochory or consuming only the pulp. The dispersed species (identified through LEK) included many megafaunal-syndrome species, and porcupines also showed high dispersal overlap with elephants (and rats). Hence, as common, megafaunal rodents, porcupines are performing important ecological roles within rainforests. These findings highlight the important, yet overlooked, role of porcupines in maintaining tropical rainforest function, underscoring that their conservation is essential for sustaining tropical biodiversity. © 2025 The Author(s). Ecology and Evolution published by British Ecological Society and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.