Quills on a Porcupine

North American Porcupine quills have microscopic barbs that make them difficult to pull out, but penetrate skin easily!

Porcupines are covered almost entirely in quills, which are a type of large, spikey modified hair. These quills act as an extremely effective defense against would-be predators. The tiny scale-like barbs on the tips of their quills are being studied as a model for new types of innovative medical equipment!

The North American Porcupine has little relation to porcupines of the Old world, which evolved separately in a process known as convergent evolution!

North American porcupine quills, although dangerous and sometimes deadly to predators, are covered in an antimicrobial fatty acid which protects porcupines from infections in cases where they accidentally poke themselves-- usually from falling out of trees as they forage for tender young leaves!