Little Swan Island hutia

The Little Swan Island hutia is an extinct species of rodent that lived on Little Swan Island, off northeastern Honduras in the Caribbean. It was a slow-moving, guinea-pig-like rodent and probably emerged from caves and limestone crevices to forage on bark, small twigs and leaves.

Taxonomy

It may have been a subspecies of the Jamaican hutia, whose ancestors were carried to the island from Jamaica, 5,000–7,000 years ago. It was fairly common in the early 20th century, but disappeared after a severe hurricane in 1955, followed by the introduction of house cats to the island.