The black dwarf porcupine has records from the Amazon region. Its dorsal quill pattern helps distinguish it from similar species, but its range is still poorly defined.
Long dorsal quills have a yellowish base and a long blackish band. The pale band near the tip is very short or absent.
The MammalBase diet record lists a shoot from a flowering plant as a food item. This single entry does not describe its entire diet.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.