HUTIA

any of several large, ratlike rodents of the family Capromyidae (order Rodentia) and the genera Capromys, Geocapromys, and Plagiodontia. Found in the forests and rough country of the Antilles and, reportedly, northern Venezuela, hutias are broad-headed, robust animals with small eyes and ears and coarse, yellowish to reddish brown or black fur. They are 2060 cm (824 inches) long, excluding the tail, which is short in the Jamaican and Bahaman hutias (Geocapromys), longer in the Cuban and Hispaniolan hutias (Capromys and Plagiodontia). Hutias are primarily vegetarian. Cuban hutias are diurnal and arboreal; Jamaican and Bahaman hutias are terrestrial and nocturnal. The little-known Hispaniolan hutias are apparently nocturnal. Hutias are becoming scarce in certain areas. The bushy-tailed hutia (Capromys melanurus) and dwarf hutia (C. nanus) of Cuba and the Bahaman and Haitian species are listed as rare in the Red Data Book. Their decline is presumably a consequence of hunting, for food and sport; destruction of the habitat; and predation by the mongoose, introduced from India. Two genera and several species are extinct.