Though this interview is from 2010, I found it quite fascinating and worthy of sharing here.
The Caribbean’s wonderfully weird (and threatened) mammals, an interview with Jose Nunez-Mino
Not many people know the solenodon and the hutia, yet for the fortunate few that have encountered them, these strange little-studied mammals—just barely holding on in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola—deserve to be stars of the animal kingdom.
“I could not quite believe it the first time I held a solenodon; I was in utter awe of this mesmerizing mammal. […] They have a long flexible snout which is all down to the fact that it is joined to the skull by a unique ball-and-socket joint. This makes it look as if the snout is almost independent to the rest of the animal. You can’t help but feel fascinated by the snout and inevitably it does make you smile,” Dr. Jose Nunez-Mino, the Project Manager for a new initiative to study and conserve the island’s last mammals, told mongabay.com in an interview. “When handled properly they are remarkably docile and relaxed which makes it very easy to observe them in the hand. […] All in all I think it is fair to describe solenodon as amazingly cute. They have a toy like quality about them which is reinforced by their very small eyes and their cumbersome walk which is more of a side to side waddle.”
The hutia may not be as odd or cute as the solenodon, but Nunez-Mino ensured mongabay that the hutia was just as special as the solenodon.
A colleague and friend of mine once described hutia as looking like guinea pig but fatter which is not a bad description […]. They are very large rodents which usually have brownish fur (the colour can vary in some individuals and populations) which covers their whole body apart from their short tail which is a under a third of their body length. They have broad heads and short rounded ears – very teddy bear like in my eyes,” says Nunez-Mino.
Nunez-Mino is heading up a new initiative to not only better understand these last survivors of Hispaniola, but also to find effective ways to save them. The initiative, known as the Hispaniolan Endemic Land Mammals Project, is being funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative with partners including the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Zoological Society of London and EDGE, the Sociedad Ornitologica de La Hispaniola, and the Dominican Republic National Zoo.
Although little-known both the solenodon and the hutia are important due to their unique evolutionary history.
“The solenodon represents an ancient lineage of mammals that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs – in all effects it can justifiably be described as a living fossil. […] Its most distinctive feature and one that causes a lot of interest is the fact that it can secrete venom along a grooved tooth (the word solenodon derives from the Greek for channelled tooth) in a manner similar to snakes,” explains Nunez-Mino.
The Hispaniolan hutia for its part “is the only surviving member of the Plagiodontia genus which is the oldest lineage of hutia and diverged from the other hutia around 20 million years ago. It is, undoubtedly a very special animal.”
The Caribbean’s wonderfully weird (and threatened) mammals, an interview with Jose Nunez-Mino
The Caribbean’s wonderfully weird (and threatened) mammals, an interview with Jose Nunez-Mino
Not many people know the solenodon and the hutia, yet for the fortunate few that have encountered them, these strange little-studied mammals—just barely holding on in the Caribbean island of Hispaniola—deserve to be stars of the animal kingdom.
“I could not quite believe it the first time I held a solenodon; I was in utter awe of this mesmerizing mammal. […] They have a long flexible snout which is all down to the fact that it is joined to the skull by a unique ball-and-socket joint. This makes it look as if the snout is almost independent to the rest of the animal. You can’t help but feel fascinated by the snout and inevitably it does make you smile,” Dr. Jose Nunez-Mino, the Project Manager for a new initiative to study and conserve the island’s last mammals, told mongabay.com in an interview. “When handled properly they are remarkably docile and relaxed which makes it very easy to observe them in the hand. […] All in all I think it is fair to describe solenodon as amazingly cute. They have a toy like quality about them which is reinforced by their very small eyes and their cumbersome walk which is more of a side to side waddle.”
The hutia may not be as odd or cute as the solenodon, but Nunez-Mino ensured mongabay that the hutia was just as special as the solenodon.
A colleague and friend of mine once described hutia as looking like guinea pig but fatter which is not a bad description […]. They are very large rodents which usually have brownish fur (the colour can vary in some individuals and populations) which covers their whole body apart from their short tail which is a under a third of their body length. They have broad heads and short rounded ears – very teddy bear like in my eyes,” says Nunez-Mino.
Nunez-Mino is heading up a new initiative to not only better understand these last survivors of Hispaniola, but also to find effective ways to save them. The initiative, known as the Hispaniolan Endemic Land Mammals Project, is being funded by the UK government’s Darwin Initiative with partners including the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the Zoological Society of London and EDGE, the Sociedad Ornitologica de La Hispaniola, and the Dominican Republic National Zoo.
Although little-known both the solenodon and the hutia are important due to their unique evolutionary history.
“The solenodon represents an ancient lineage of mammals that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs – in all effects it can justifiably be described as a living fossil. […] Its most distinctive feature and one that causes a lot of interest is the fact that it can secrete venom along a grooved tooth (the word solenodon derives from the Greek for channelled tooth) in a manner similar to snakes,” explains Nunez-Mino.
The Hispaniolan hutia for its part “is the only surviving member of the Plagiodontia genus which is the oldest lineage of hutia and diverged from the other hutia around 20 million years ago. It is, undoubtedly a very special animal.”
The Caribbean’s wonderfully weird (and threatened) mammals, an interview with Jose Nunez-Mino