Little Swan Island Hutia

Taxobox


name = Little Swan Island Hutia
status = EX
status_system = iucn2.3
extinct = 1955
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Rodentia
subordo = Hystricomorpha
familia = Capromyidae
genus = "Geocapromys"
species = "G. thoracatus"
binomial = "Geocapromys thoracatus"
binomial_authority = (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.

References

* 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