''Geocapromys'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

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 Mandible, lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal specie ...

belonging to the hutia subfamily and are currently only found on

the Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. However, they formerly ranged throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

to the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

to even islands off mainland

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

Systematics

The genus ''Geocapromys'' comprises five recent species, three of which are extinct. * ''G. brownii'', the Jamaican hutia, which is also known as the Jamaican coney or Brown's hutia, is another extant species endemic to Jamaica. * ''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 or Least-concern species, least concern 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 * Exta ...

species of

hutia Hutias (known in Spanish as jutía) are moderately large cavy-like rodents of the subfamily Capromyinae that inhabit the Caribbean islands. Most species are restricted to Cuba, but species are known from all of the Greater Antilles, as well as ...

native to the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

. * ''G. thoracatus'', the

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

, 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. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

. 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. It was endemic to Cuba. Its natural habitats were lowlands moist forests, xeric shrublands and rocky areas. Some scientists indicate th ...

, was endemic to Cuba, where it went extinct shortly after human colonization. *'' G. caymanensis'', the Cayman hutia, was endemic to the

, 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 preserve ...

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 Taxa named by Frank Chapman (ornithologist) {{Rodent-stub