The prehensile-tailed hutia (''Mysateles prehensilis'') is a small, furry, rat-like mammal found only in forests on Cuba. It is the only member of the genus ''Mysateles''. It climbs and lives in trees where it eats only leaves, and it is threatened by habitat loss. The prehensile-tailed hutia is a member of the

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 ...

subfamily (Capromyinae), a group of rodents native to the Caribbean that are mostly endangered or extinct. There is one subspecies, ''M. prehensilis gundlachi'' (also known as Chapman's prehensile-tailed hutia or Gundlach's hutia).

Taxonomy

The genus name ''Mysateles'' derives from the two

ancient greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

words (), meaning "mouse, rat", and (), meaning "incomplete, imperfect". Within Capromyidae, the closest relative of ''Mysateles'' is the genus ''Mesocapromys''. Both genera are the sister group to ''Capromys'', and then ''Geocapromys'' is a more distant genus. In turn, these four genera belong to the tribe Capromyini, and are the sister group to ''Plagiodontia''. Several other hutia species such as

Garrido's hutia Garrido's hutia (''Capromys garridoi'') is a small, critically endangered, rat-like mammal found in coastal mangrove forests on Cuba and nearby islands. It is rarely seen and may be extinct. It is a member of the hutia subfamily (Capromyinae ...

(''Capromys garridoi'') and the black-tailed hutia (''Mesocapromys melanurus'') were formerly classified in ''Mysateles'', but phylogenetic evidence found them to belong in different genera, leaving only ''M. prehensilis'' in ''Mysateles''. A subspecies, ''Mysateles prehensilis gundlachi'' (also known as Chapman's prehensile-tailed hutia or Gundlach's hutia) was previously considered a separate species (''Mysateles gundlachi''). The

Isla De La Juventud tree hutia The Isla De La Juventud tree hutia or southern hutia (''Mysateles prehensilis meridionalis'') is a subspecies of rodent in the subfamily Capromyinae. It is endemic to lowland moist forests on Isla de la Juventud in Cuba. It is threatened by hab ...

(''M. p. meridionalis'') was also previously considered a separate species, but was found to be a subspecies by phylogenetic studies.

Genetics

Its karyotype has 2n = 34 and FN = 54–56.

Habitat and conservation

The species is found in both primary and secondary forest. It is listed as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. Although locally common in some areas, it is in decline and is threatened by

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

and habitat fragmentation.

References

Mysateles Endemic fauna of Cuba Mammals of Cuba Mammals of the Caribbean Near threatened animals Mammals described in 1824 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxa named by Eduard Friedrich Poeppig {{rodent-stub