[5] Rothschild's porcupine (C. rothschildi) of Panama was formerly considered a distinct species, but phylogenetic evidence indicates that both are synonymous.

The body is spiny all over, the evenly spaced spines being dark with yellowish tips in the animal's mid section.

Its behaviour is likely to resemble that of its close relatives in being nocturnal and arboreal, and feeding on fruit and leaves.

[7] The Andean porcupine is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as "data deficient".

It is generally an uncommon or rare species and it is suspected that its population is decreasing, due to degradation and fragmentation of its habitat as the forest is felled for conversion to agricultural use.