''Geocapromys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

belonging to the hutia subfamily and are currently only found on

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. However, they formerly ranged throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

to the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territory—the largest by population in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located to the ...

to even islands off mainland

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Systematics

The genus ''Geocapromys'' comprises five recent species, three of which are extinct. * ''Geocapromys ingrahami'', the

Bahamian hutia The Bahamian hutia or Ingraham's hutia (''Geocapromys ingrahami'') is a small, furry, rat-like mammal found only in the Bahamas. About the size of a rabbit, it lives in burrows in forests or shrubland, emerging at night to feed on leaves, fruit, ...

or Ingraham's hutia, is an

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

species of

hutia Hutias (known in Spanish as jutía) are moderately large cavy-like rodents of the subfamily Capromyinae that inhabit the Caribbean islands, with most species restricted to Cuba and Hispaniola. Twenty species of hutia have been identified, but at ...

native to the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. * ''G. brownii'', the Jamaican hutia, which is also known as the Jamaican coney or Brown's hutia, is another extant species endemic to Jamaica. * ''G. thoracatus'', the

Little Swan Island hutia The Little Swan Island hutia (''Geocapromys thoracatus'') is an Extinction, extinct species of rodent that lived on Swan Islands, Honduras, Little Swan Island, off northeastern Honduras in the Caribbean. It was a slow-moving, guinea-pig-like rode ...

, was a third species which was found only on Little Swan Island, off northeastern

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

. It became extinct in 1955, wiped out by storms and introduced predators. Some scientists consider it a subspecies of ''G. brownii''. *''G. columbianus'', the

Cuban coney The Cuban coney (''Geocapromys columbianus'') is an extinct species of rodent in the subfamily Capromyinae. In it’s time, it was endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats were lowlands moist forests, xeric shrublands and rocky areas. Some scienti ...

, was endemic to Cuba, where it went extinct shortly after human colonization. *''G. caymanensis'', the Cayman hutia, was endemic to the Cayman Islands, where it went extinct shortly after human colonization. In addition, there are two species, '' G. megas'' and '' G. pleistocenicus'', which are known only from

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

remains.

Phylogeny

Within Capromyidae, ''Geocapromys'' is the sister group to a clade comprising ''Mesocapromys'' and ''Mysateles'' on the one hand, and ''Capromys'' on the other hand. In turn, these four genera belong to the tribe Capromyini, and are the sister group to ''Plagiodontia''.

References

Hutias Rodent genera {{Rodent-stub