Puerto Rican hutia

Puerto Rican hutia
Conservation status
Extinct  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Echimyidae
Genus:	†Isolobodon
Species:	†I. portoricensis
Binomial name
†Isolobodon portoricensis Allen, 1916

The Puerto Rican hutia (Isolobodon portoricensis) is an extinct species of rodent in the family Capromyidae. It was found on Hispaniola (today the Dominican Republic and Haiti) and Puerto Rico.

History

The Puerto Rican hutia was a vital food source for the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean for many years; despite this, they continued to survive until the arrival of early European explorers. Christopher Columbus and his crew are believed to have eaten the species upon their arrival. The species declined following European colonization of the West Indies. It is unclear whether it survived after facing threats from the early introduction of black rats (Rattus rattus) by the first European settlers around 1500, although it may have been finally wiped out by introduced Javan mongooses (Herpestes javanicus) in the 19th or early 20th century. Although commonly regarded as extinct, some researchers hold out hopes that the species still survives in undisturbed refuges.