- Giant hutia
Taxobox
name = Giant Hutias
status = Fossil
fossil_range =Pleistocene
regnum =Animal ia
phylum =Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
ordo =Rodent ia
subordo =Hystricomorpha
infraordo =Hystricognathi
parvordo =Caviomorpha
familia = †Heptaxodontidae
familia_authority = Anthony, 1917
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = †"Amblyrhiza "
†"Clidomys "
†"Elasmodontomys "
†"Quemisia "
†"Xaymaca"
The giant hutias are anextinct group of largerodent s known fromfossil andsubfossil material in the West Indies. One species, "Amblyrhiza inundata ", is estimated to have weighed between convert|50|and|200|kg|abbr=on, big specimens being as large as anAmerican Black Bear . This is much larger thanCapybara , the largest rodent living today, but still much smaller than "Phoberomys pattersoni " and "Phoberomys insolita ", the largest rodents presently known. These animals may have persisted into historic times and were probably used as a food source by aboriginal humans. All giant hutias are in a single family Heptaxodontidae, which contains no living species.Taxonomy
The giant hutias are divided into two subfamilies, five genera, and six species.
*Family Heptaxodontidae
**SubfamilyHeptaxodontinae
***Genus "Amblyrhiza "
****"Amblyrhiza inundata " fromAnguilla andSt. Martin
***Genus "Elasmodontomys "
****"Elasmodontomys obliquus " fromPuerto Rico
***Genus "Quemisia "
****"Quemisia gravis " fromHispaniola
***Genus "Xaymaca"
****"Xaymaca fulvopulvis " fromJamaica
**SubfamilyClidomyinae
***Genus "Clidomys "
****"Clidomys osborni " fromJamaica
****"Clidomys parvus "Uncertain status as species, suspected to bejuvenile specimens of "C. osborni". cite journal |last= Morgan |first= Gary, S. |authorlink= |coauthors= Wilkins, Laurie |year= 2003 |month= |title=The Extinct Rodent Clidomys (Heptaxodontidae) From a Late Quaternary Cave Deposit in Jamaica |journal=Caribbean Journal of Science |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=34–41 |id= |url=http://academic.uprm.edu/publications/cjs/Vol39a/39_34-41.pdf |accessdate= ] fromJamaica See also
*
Island gigantism References
*Biknevicius, A. R.; McFarlane, Donald A. & MacPhee, R. D. E (1993): Body size in "Amblyrhiza inundata" (Rodentia: Caviomorpha), an extinct megafaunal rodent from the Anguilla Bank, West Indies: estimates and implications. "Am. Mus. Novit." 3079: 1-26. [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/4976/1/N3079.pdf PDF fulltext]
*MacPhee, R. D. E. & Flemming, C. (2003): A possible heptaxodontine and other caviidan rodents from the Quaternary of Jamaica. "Am. Mus. Novit." 3422: 1-42. [http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/2851/1/N3422.pdf PDF fulltext]
*Nowak, Ronald M. 1999. "Walker's Mammals of the World", 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1936 pp. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
*Woods, C. A. 1989. Biogeography of West Indian rodents. Pp 741-797 in Biogeography of the West Indies: Past Present and Future. Sandhil Crane Press, Gainesville.Notes
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