Marcano's Solenodon
Encyclopedia
Marcano's Solenodon was a species of mammal
in the family Solenodontidae
. It is known only from skeletal remains found on the island of Hispaniola
. The remains were found in association with those from rat
s of the genus
Rattus, which suggests Marcano's Solenodon survived until the time of European colonisation of the island. It was smaller than the two extant members of its genus.
Like other Solenodon species, it was a nocturnal, burrowing, shrew
-like mammal with a long snout, that fed on insects. Solenodons are among only a handful of mammals to have venomous bites.
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
in the family Solenodontidae
Solenodontidae
Solenodons are venomous, nocturnal, burrowing, insectivorous mammals belonging to the family Solenodontidae. Only one genus, Solenodon, is known, although a few other genera were erected at one time and are now regarded as junior synonyms...
. It is known only from skeletal remains found on the island of Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
. The remains were found in association with those from rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
s of the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Rattus, which suggests Marcano's Solenodon survived until the time of European colonisation of the island. It was smaller than the two extant members of its genus.
Like other Solenodon species, it was a nocturnal, burrowing, shrew
Shrew
A shrew or shrew mouse is a small molelike mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha. True shrews are also not to be confused with West Indies shrews, treeshrews, otter shrews, or elephant shrews, which belong to different families or orders.Although its external appearance is generally that of...
-like mammal with a long snout, that fed on insects. Solenodons are among only a handful of mammals to have venomous bites.