Little Swan Island hutia

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Little Swan Island hutia
Conservation status
Extinct  (1955) (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Suborder: Hystricomorpha Family: Capromyidae Genus: Geocapromys Species: G. thoracatus
Binomial name
Geocapromys thoracatus (True, 1888)

The Little Swan Island hutia (Geocapromys thoracatus) lived on Little Swan Island, off north-eastern Honduras in the Caribbean. It was a slow-moving, guinea-pig-like rodent and probably emerged from caves and limestone crevices to forage on bark, small twigs and leaves.

The ancestors of the species may have been carried to the island from Jamaica, 5,000-7,000 years ago. It may have been a subspecies of the Jamaican hutia (Geocapromys browni). It was fairly common in the early 20th century, but disappeared after a severe hurricane in 1955, followed by the introduction of house cats to the island.

[edit] References

• Baillie (1996). Geocapromys thoracatus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 10 May 2006. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is listed as extinct
• 'A Gap in Nature' by Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten (2001), published by William Heinemann