Often compared to shrews, solenodons resemble rats with extremely elongated cartilaginous snouts, long, naked, scaly tails, small eyes, and coarse, dark brown to black hair. Between 70-80 centimeters (28-32 inches) long from nose to tail, solenodons are known to become very easily agitated and may squeal or bite with little or no provocation.
The two living solenodon species are the Cuban Solenodon (Solenodon [Atopogale] cubanus) of Cuba and the Haitian or Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) of Hispaniola (island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Both became endangered species due to predation by the mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus), which was introduced in colonial times to hunt snakes and rats, as well as by feral cats and dogs. The Haitian solenodon is practically extinct, with sightings of specimens or their markings occurring rather infrequently. The Cuban Solenodon was thought to have been extinct until a live specimen was found in 2003.
Solenodons has a few intriguing traits, two of them being the position of the teats (2) on female, almost on the buttocks of the animal, and poison saliva, that flows from modified salivary glands in the mandible through grooves on the second lower incisors (Solenodon derives from the Greek "grooved tooth"), which makes the Solenodon one of only a handful of mammals that are poisonous.
The Solenodon genus is interesting to phylogenetics researchers due to its retention of primitive mammal characteristics; their species resemble very closely those that lived near the end of the age of the dinosaurs.
External links
Entry at Animal Diversity Web (http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Solenodon_paradoxus.html)
Solenodon paradoxus, also known as the Hispaniolan Solenodon, is only found on the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and was unknown to science until 1833, when it was first described by Brandt.
Solenodons eat a wide variety of animals, like arthropods, worms and snails, as well as small reptiles; they may also feed on roots, fruits and foliage (however, a study found that solenodons refused all forms of vegetation).
Solenodons in captivity have been seen to bathe often and to drink only when bathing.
The two living solenodonspecies are the Cuban Solenodon (Atopogale cubana) of Cuba and the Haitian or Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) of Hispaniola (island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti).
The Marcano's Solenodon (Solenodon marcanoi) went extinct in the Holocene.
Solenodons have a few intriguing traits, two of them being the position of the teats (2) on female, almost on the buttocks of the animal, and the second being the venomous saliva that flows from modified salivary glands in the mandible through grooves on the second lower incisors (Solenodon derives from the Greek "grooved tooth").
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