Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine

The black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine (Coendou melanurus) is a porcupine species from the family Erethizontidae.^[2] It is found in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

Black-tailed hairy dwarf porcupine
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Erethizontidae
Genus:	Coendou
Species:	C. melanurus
Binomial name
Coendou melanurus (Wagner, 1842)

This species was formerly sometimes assigned to Sphiggurus,^[2] a genus no longer recognized since genetic studies showed it to be polyphyletic.^[3] Its closest relatives are the frosted hairy dwarf porcupine (Coendou pruinosus), the brown hairy dwarf porcupine (Coendou vestitus) and the streaked dwarf porcupine (Coendou ichillus).^[3]