The Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 region is home to two unique families of the mammal

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...

ian order Soricomorpha

Soricomorpha

The order Soricomorpha is taxon within the class of mammals. In previous years it formed a significant group within the former order Insectivora...

, which also includes the 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...

s and mole

Mole (animal)

Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...

s. Only one Caribbean family, that of the solenodons, is still extant; the other, Nesophontidae, went extinct within the last few centuries.

For the purposes of this article, the "Caribbean" includes all islands in the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

 (except for small islets close to the mainland) and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands

Turks and Caicos Islands

The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...

, and Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically

Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...

 belong to the same Caribbean bioregion

Caribbean bioregion

The Caribbean bioregion is a biogeographic region that includes the islands of the Caribbean Sea, which share a flora and fauna distinct from surrounding bioregions....

.

Overview

About fifteen species of Caribbean soricomorphs are known to have existed during the Quaternary

Quaternary

The Quaternary Period is the most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the ICS. It follows the Neogene Period, spanning 2.588 ± 0.005 million years ago to the present...

, but not all Nesophontes species are universally accepted as valid. However, most of these, including all Nesophontes, are now extinct, and the two surviving solenodons are classified as "endangered".

The interrelationships of the two Caribbean genera remain unclear. Similarities in skull

Skull

The skull is a bony structure in the head of many animals that supports the structures of the face and forms a cavity for the brain.The skull is composed of two parts: the cranium and the mandible. A skull without a mandible is only a cranium. Animals that have skulls are called craniates...

 morphology have led some to propose close affinities between the two, but differences in characters of the teeth are evidence against a close relationship. DNA evidence suggests that Solenodon is sister to a clade of shrews, moles, and erinaceids, with a molecular clock

Molecular clock

The molecular clock is a technique in molecular evolution that uses fossil constraints and rates of molecular change to deduce the time in geologic history when two species or other taxa diverged. It is used to estimate the time of occurrence of events called speciation or radiation...

 providing evidence that the split from the other families occurred in the Cretaceous

Cretaceous

The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...

 period, late in the Mesozoic

Mesozoic

The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...

 era. How they came to the Antilles is unknown; they may have arrived either via overwater dispersal or via some sort of land bridge from North America, South America, or even Africa, and Nesophontes and Solenodon may have different origins.

The genera of Caribbean soricomorphs are classified as follows:

• Order Soricomorpha
  • Family Nesophontidae: Nesophontes
  • 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...
    
    : Solenodon
  • Unidentified genus

Cuba

Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, the largest of the Antilles

Antilles

The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...

, also has the largest inventory of soricomorphs, including five Nesophontes and two solenodons.

• Nesophontes longirostris is known from cave deposits of uncertain age.
• Nesophontes major is known from cave deposits of uncertain age.
• Nesophontes micrus, the most widespread Nesophontes, is known from remains from Cuba dated to the 14th century CE.
• Nesophontes submicrus is known from cave deposits of uncertain age.
• Nesophontes superstes, a large Nesophontes, is known from a single mandible that was found on the surface of a cave deposit together with Rattus, suggesting recent survival.
• Solenodon arredondoi is known from Late Pleistocene deposits in western Cuba.
• Solenodon cubanus, the only surviving Cuban solenodon, has been confirmed only from eastern Cuba as a living animal, but there are several fossil records in the western part of the island.
• Some fossil cave samples from several localities represent solenodons that are larger than S. cubanus, but too small for S. arredondoi. They have been identified as Solenodon cf. cubanus.

Isla de la Juventud

Isla de la Juventud is a large island south of Cuba.

• Nesophontes micrus has been recorded from the island.

Cayman Islands

Two extinct undescribed species

Undescribed taxon

In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. Until such a description has been published, the taxon has no formal or...

 of Nesophontes are known from several cave deposits on the Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands

The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...

, a British archipelago south of Cuba. The two are similar in morphology, but the species from Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman

Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac.-Geography:Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of...

 is larger than the one from Cayman Brac

Cayman Brac

Cayman Brac is an island that is part of the Cayman Islands. It lies in the Caribbean Sea about 90 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and 5 miles east of Little Cayman. It is about 12 miles long, with an average width of 1 mile...

. They are closely related to each other and to the Cuban–Hispaniolan species N. micrus. The oldest record is from the latest Pleistocene, but they probably arrived there earlier in the Pleistocene, if not in the Pliocene. In the youngest layers of several deposits, Nesophontes is found together with introduced Rattus, indicating that its extinction occurred relatively recently.

Hispaniola

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...

 is the second largest of the Antilles. It is divided into Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

 and the Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...

.

• Nesophontes hypomicrus has been found together with Rattus and remains from a cave in the Dominican Republic have been dated to the 13th century CE.
• Nesophontes micrus has also been recorded from Hispaniola.
• Nesophontes paramicrus has been found together with remains of Rattus; some bones from a cave in Haiti have been dated to the 14th century CE.
• Nesophontes zamicrus has been found together with Rattus; some remains have been radiocarbon-dated
  Radiocarbon dating
  Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
  
   to the 13th century CE.
• Solenodon marcanoi is known from late Quaternary fossil deposits in southern Haiti and the southwestern Dominican Republic.
• Solenodon paradoxus, one of the two living solenodons, is known both as a living animal and from fossil deposits throughout much of the island, except for northern Haiti. Separate subspecies
  Subspecies
  Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
  
   occur in the northern (S. p. paradoxus) and southern highlands (S. p. woodi).
• Some chest vertebrae and associated ribs of a mammal, probably a solenodontid, have been found in amber
  Amber
  Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
  
   in the Dominican Republic. These are probably not older than the late Oligocene
  Oligocene
  The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
  
  . The animal would have been about the size of Nesophontes, with an estimated body mass of 150 grams (5.3 oz).

Gonâve

Gonâve is an island off western Hispaniola, part of Haiti

Haiti

Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...

.

• Nesophontes hypomicrus
• Solenodon paradoxus, the extant Hispaniolan solenodon, is known from a Recent fossil deposit on Gonâve, but it is not known as a living animal there.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 is the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles.

• Nesophontes edithae, a large Nesophontes, has been recorded from an Amerindian site and dated to about 1000 CE.

Vieques

Vieques is the largest island associated with Puerto Rico; it is located east of the main island.

• Nesophontes edithae, a Puerto Rican Nesophontes, has been recorded from a kitchen midden on Vieques.

Saint John

Saint John

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint John is an island in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. St...

 is one of the main islands of the northern United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

.

• Nesophontes edithae is known from archeological material.

Saint Thomas

Saint Thomas

Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas is an island in the Caribbean Sea and with the islands of Saint John, Saint Croix, and Water Island a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Located on the island is the territorial capital and port of...

 is one of the main islands of the northern United States Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

.

• Nesophontes edithae is known from archeological material.

See also

• Island biogeography
  Island biogeography
  Island biogeography is a field within biogeography that attempts to establish and explain the factors that affect the species richness of natural communities. The theory was developed to explain species richness of actual islands...
  
  
• Extinction
  Extinction
  In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
  
  
• List of North American soricomorphs
• List of Central American soricomorphs
• List of South American soricomorphs

Literature cited

• Hutterer, R. 2005. Order Soricomorpha. Pp. 220–311 in Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols., 2142 pp. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0
• IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on November 26, 2009.
• MacPhee, R.D.E. and Grimaldi, D.A. 1996. Mammal bones in Dominican amber. Nature 380:489–490.
• MacPhee, R.D.E., Flemming, C. and Lunde, D.P. 1999. "Last occurrence" of the Antillean insectivoran Nesophontes: New radiometric dates and their interpretation. American Museum Novitates 3261:1–20.
• Morgan, G.S. 1994a. Mammals of the Cayman Islands. Pp. 435–463 in Brunt, M.A. and Davies, J.E. (eds.). The Cayman Islands: Natural History and Biogeography. Springer, 604 pp. ISBN 978-0-7923-2462-1
• Morgan, G.S. 1994b. Late Quaternary fossil vertebrates from the Cayman Islands. Pp. 465–508 in Brunt, M.A. and Davies, J.E. (eds.). The Cayman Islands: Natural History and Biogeography. Springer, 604 pp. ISBN 978-0-7923-2462-1
• Ottenwalder, J.A. 2001. Systematics and biogeography of the West Indian genus Solenodon. Pp. 253–330 in Woods, C.A. and Sergile, F.E. (eds.). Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and perspectives. Boca Raton, London, New York, and Washington, D.C.: CRC Press, 582 pp. ISBN 0-8493-2001-1
• Roca, A.L., Bar-Gal, G., Eizirik, E., Helgen, K.M., Maria, R., Springer, M.S., O'Brien, S.J. and Murphy, W.J. 2004. Mesozoic origin for West Indian insectivores. Nature 429:649–651
• Turvey, S.T., Oliver, J.R., Narganes Storde, Y.M. and Rye, P. 2007. Late Holocene extinction of Puerto Rican native land mammals. Biology Letters 3:193–196.
• Whidden, H.P. and Asher, R.J. 2001. The origin of the Greater Antillean insectivorans. Pp. 237–252 in Woods, C.A. and Sergile, F.E. (eds.). Biogeography of the West Indies: Patterns and perspectives. Boca Raton, London, New York, and Washington, D.C.: CRC Press, 582 pp. ISBN 0-8493-2001-1