''Geocapromys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), 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 roden ...

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 North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the arc ...

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 Hispan ...

. However, they formerly ranged throughout the Caribbean, 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 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 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 North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the archi ...

. * ''G. brownii'', the

Jamaican hutia The Jamaican coney (''Geocapromys brownii''), also known as the Jamaican hutia or Brown's hutia, is a small, endangered, rat-like mammal found only on the island of Jamaica. About the size of a rabbit, it lives in group nests and is active at nig ...

, 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, was a third species which was found only on Little Swan Island, off northeastern Honduras. 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, was endemic to Cuba, where it went extinct shortly after human colonization. *''G. caymanensis'', the

Cayman hutia Cayman may refer to * Cayman Islands, an overseas territory of the United Kingdom ** Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, or Little Cayman, three islands that are part of the Cayman Islands * , a British frigate in service with the Royal Navy from 1944 to 194 ...

, 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