Marcano's solenodon
Extinct species of mammal
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Marcano's solenodon (Solenodon marcanoi) is an extinct species of mammal in the family Solenodontidae known only from skeletal remains found on the island of Hispaniola (today the Dominican Republic and Haiti).[2][3][4]
| Marcano's solenodon | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla |
| Family: | Solenodontidae |
| Genus: | Solenodon |
| Species: | †S. marcanoi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Solenodon marcanoi (Patterson, 1962) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Etymology
The specific epithet, marcanoi, is in honor of the Dominican botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, speleologist and researcher Eugenio de Jesús Marcano Fondeur.
Description
The species was smaller than the other extant member of its genus, the sympatric Hispaniolan solenodon (S. paradoxus).[1] Marcano's solenodon's limb bones were comparatively shorter than in S. paradoxus, suggesting smaller size and possibly short stature.[3] Like its congenerics, it probably was a nocturnal, burrowing, shrew-like mammal with a long snout, that fed on insects, earthworms, small reptiles, birds, amphibians, and mammals.[4]
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