Plate-toothed giant hutia

The plate-toothed giant hutia (Elasmodontomys obliquus) is an extinct species of rodent in the family Heptaxodontidae. It is the only species within the genus Elasmodontomys. It was found in Puerto Rico.[1]

Plate-toothed giant hutia
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Heptaxodontidae
Genus: Elasmodontomys
Anthony, 1916
Species:
E. obliquus
Binomial name
Elasmodontomys obliquus
Anthony, 1916

The rodent is thought to have weighed 13 kilograms (29 lb) and survived for at least 2000 years after humans colonised Puerto Rico.[2]

Despite being described as a "giant hutia", it has recently been recovered as a member of the Chinchilloidea.[3]

References

  1. Woods, C.A.; Kilpatrick, C.W. (2005). "Infraorder Hystricognathi". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 1538–1600. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. Turvey, S. T.; Oliver, J. R.; Narganes Storde, Y. M.; Rye, P. (2007). "Late Holocene extinction of Puerto Rican native land mammals". Biology Letters. 3 (2): 193–196. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0585. PMC 2375922. PMID 17251123.
  3. Marivaux, Laurent; Vélez-Juarbe, Jorge; Merzeraud, Gilles; Pujos, François; Viñola López, Lázaro W.; Boivin, Myriam; Santos-Mercado, Hernán; Cruz, Eduardo J.; Grajales, Alexandra; Padilla, James; Vélez-Rosado, Kevin I. (2020-02-12). "Early Oligocene chinchilloid caviomorphs from Puerto Rico and the initial rodent colonization of the West Indies". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287 (1920): 20192806. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.2806. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 7031660. PMID 32075529.


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