Little Swan Island hutia
| Little Swan Island hutia | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
| Conservation status | |
| 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) is an extinct species of rodent that lived on the Swan Islands, 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.
It may have been a subspecies of the Jamaican hutia (Geocapromys browni), whose ancestors were carried to the island from Jamaica, 5000-7000 years ago. It was fairly common in the early 20th century, but disappeared after a severe hurricane (Hurricane Janet) in 1955, followed by the introduction of house cats to the island.
References
- ↑ Turvey, S. & Helgen, K. (2008). Geocapromys thoracatus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
- 'A Gap in Nature' by Tim Flannery and Peter Schouten (2001), published by William Heinemann