Sphiggurus F. Cuvier, 1825 . Dentes des Mammifères, p. 256.

TYPE SPECIES: Hystrix spinosa F. Cuvier, 1823 .

SYNONYMS: Cercolabes, Sinoetherus.

COMMENTS: This genus possibly dates from F. Cuvier, 1823. Mém Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris., 9:427, 433-435, where Sphiggurus seems only a French name "Sphiggure" except on pp. 433-434, where it is abbreviated "S. spinosa ". Formerly included in Coendou by Cabrera (1961:600), Walker et al. (1975:1012), and Hall (1981:853); see also comments under Coendou . Considered a distinct genus by Husson (1978:484-490), Woods (1984), and Nowak (1991). Emmons and Feer (1990:201) recognized Coendou [ Sphiggurus] sneiderni, the White-fronted Hairy Dwarf Porcupine, from Cauca Department of Colombia, which is apparently known from only one specimen, but this species is not recognized here, and is tentatively placed in the synonymy of Echinoprocta following Cabrera (1961).