This porcupine is recorded from forests in Colombia's Magdalena River inter-Andean valley and Caribbean region. Its shoulder and side quills have three color bands, while those on the rump and central tail have two.
Quills on the shoulders and sides have a pale white-to-yellow base, a dark brown middle band, and a small white band at the tip. Quills on the rump and central tail have two bands: a pale base and a black to dark-brown distal band.
The lineage described as C. vossi is represented by specimens from wet and dry forests in Colombia's Magdalena River inter-Andean valley and Caribbean region.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.