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Hispaniolan, or Haitian solenodon - SOLENODON PARADOXUS
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Solenodon": "Solenodon" may mean "grooved teeth" in Latin, but this is not certain.
Description: The size of a large rat, this animal has a distinctive long, tubular snout with nostrils on the sides, small eyes and ears, a long, nearly naked tail, and hairless five-toed feet bearing sharp, slightly curved claws. The fur is long and coarse, buff to yellow, often mixed with black. Total length about 12"and weight about 1.3 lb.
Location: Island of Hispaniola (Santo Domingo).
Habitat: Wooded and rocky areas.
Behavior: The rare terrestrial solenodon is a slow-moving, nocturnal animal that feeds on ants, other insects, grubs, small reptiles, fruit and other plant matter, for which it roots about on the ground, through forest litter, and ripping open rotten logs. By day, in family groups of up to 8 individuals, it shelters in caves, rock crevices, or hollow logs. Its elongated cartilaginous snout and scent glands in the armpits and groin suggest that smell is the solenodon's predominant sense. The solenodon has poisonous salivary glands with ducts opening at the base of its large second lower incisors, which are deeply grooved on the inner sides to inject venom when biting. This is one of the very rare poisonous mammals, but see also the platypus and water shrew.
Reproduction: There may be two litters of two young each per year. The female's two teats are placed on the edge of the buttocks near the tail.
Go to the Insectivores Page to get a general discussion of these animals.
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