CHAP. xiv.J THE NEOTROPICAL REGION. 63 



found in Hayti and the other large islands, and it is not im- 

 probable that species allied to Nasua and Dasypructa did 

 exist, and have been destroyed by the dogs of the invaders ; 

 though, on the other hand, these names may have been applied 

 to the existing species, which do bear some general resemblance 

 to these two forms. 



The Chiroptera, or bats, are represented by a large number of 

 species and by several peculiar genera. The American, family 

 of Phyllostomidse or vampires, has six genera in the Antilles, of 

 which three, Loncho^ina, Brachyphylla, and Phyllonycteris, are 

 peculiar, the latter being found only in Cuba. The Vesperti- 

 lionidae have four genera, of which one, Nydicellus, is confined to 

 Cuba. There are six genera of Noctilionidse, of which one, 

 Phyllodia, is confined to Jamaica. 



The Insectivora ' are represented by the genus Solenodon, of 

 which two species are known, t one inhabiting Cuba, the other 

 Hayti. These are small animals about the size of a cat, with 

 long shrew-like snout, bare rat-like tail, and long claws. Their 

 peculiar dentition and other points of their anatomy shows that 

 they belong to the family Centetidse, of which five different genera 

 inhabit Madagascar; while there is nothing closely allied to 

 them in any other part of the world but in these two islands. 



Seals are said to be found on the shores of some of the islands, 

 but they are very imperfectly known. 



The rodents belong to the family Octodontidse, or, according 

 to some authors, to the Echimyidse, both characteristic South 

 American groups. They consist of two genera, Capromys, con- 

 taining three or four species inhabiting Cuba and Jamaica; 

 while Plagiodontia (very closely allied) is confined to Hayti. 

 A peculiar mouse, a species of the American genus Hesperomys, 

 is said to inhabit Hayti and Martinique, and probably other 

 islands. A Dasyprocta or agouti, closely allied to, if not identical 

 with, a South American species, inhabits St. Vincent, St. Lucia, 

 and Grenada, and perhaps St. Thomas, and is the only mammal 

 of any size indigenous to the Lesser Antilles. All the islands 

 in which sugar is cultivated are, however, overrun with European 

 rats and mice, and it is not improbable that these may have 



