Plana Cays
Appearance
![]() The western Plana Cay, looking northeast | |
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Atlantic Ocean |
Coordinates | 22°36′00″N 73°34′23″W / 22.600°N 73.573°W |
Type | Cay |
Archipelago | Lucayan Archipelago |
Administration | |
The Plana Cays are a group of two small uninhabited islands in the southern Bahama Islands, located east of Acklins Island and west of Mayaguana Island.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Acklins_and_Crooked_15ft_4p572_shaded.png/210px-Acklins_and_Crooked_15ft_4p572_shaded.png)
The eastern cay was the last natural habitat of the Bahamian Hutia, a species of rabbit-sized rodent. It was thought to be extinct until 1966, when a population was found on the Plana Cays by biologist Garrett Clough. Hutias have since been transplanted from the Plana Cays to other parts of the Bahamas.[1]
The Plana Cays have been suggested as the first landfall of Christopher Columbus in the New World.[2][3]
References
- ^ "Hungry for hutia? Our taste for Bahamas' "most peaceable rodent" shaped its diversity". eurekalert.org (Press release). Gainesville, FL: Florida Museum of Natural History. 28 January 2020.
- ^ Pickering, Keith A. (August 1994). "Columbus's Plana landfall: Evidence for the Plana Cays as Columbus's 'San Salvador'" (PDF). DIO – The International Journal of Scientific History. 4 (1): 13–32. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
- ^ "Updated Columbus Landfall". columbuslandfall.com. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- Atrill, Rod (2000). "The Southern Bahamas". www.bahamaswildlife.fsnet.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2005.