The Malayan porcupine ranges from Nepal through north-east India (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, West Bengal, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland), to Bangladesh, central and southern China (Xizang, Hainan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Guizhou, Hunnan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Hong Kong, Fujian, Jianxi, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Gansu), throughout Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, through Peninsular Malaysia, to Singapore, Sumatra (Indonesia) and throughout Borneo (Indonesia, Malaysia, Sarawak[5] and Brunei).

[1] This species and their close relatives are believed, based on their current distribution, to have originated in southern Asia.

They likely have a common ancestor from the Late Pleistocene when Sumatra, Borneo, and Palawan were part of Sundaland.

They often inhabit dens they have found near rocky areas or in the holes of trees or root systems.

They may also dig out and live in burrows, from which a network of trails penetrate into surrounding habitat.

They also eat carrion, insects, and large tropical seeds such as belonging to Chisocheton cumingianus.