12 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Hamburg gardens, Dr. Mohr found the solenodons quite 

 indifferent to live snails presented to them. Thumb found as 

 many as eight solenodons in a single burrow. In captivity it 

 was ascertained that the female may have one to three, usually 

 two, young at a birth and may bring forth twice in a single 

 year, though showing no particular breeding season. The 

 group of eight in a den may thus be accounted for as the two 

 parents with their young of two successive litters. Three of 

 the families dug out by Thumb consisted of the adult pair and 

 their single young. A family secured for the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology in 1937 by W. J. Clench was of similar consti- 

 tution. These were from southwest of Sabana, Dominican 

 Republic. 



At the present time it appears that this solenodon is in no 

 immediate danger of extinction, but is still present in areas of 

 stony forest in northeastern Dominican Republic. If, however, 

 such areas are extensively encroached upon through clearing 

 and cultivation, it will no doubt be reduced in numbers. 



CUBAN SOLENODON; "AYRE"; "ALMIQUI" 



SOLENODON CUBANUS Peters 



Solenodon cubanus Peters, Monatsb. Konigl. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1861, p. 169, 



1862 (mountains near Trinidad and Bayamo, Cuba). 

 FIGS.: Peters, 1863, pis. 1-3 (exterior and anatomy); Mohr, 1937a, figs, on pp. 7, 8. 



The Cuban solenodon was probably the animal first made 

 known by Oviedo as the ay re in his famous "Historia General y 

 Natural de las Indias," 1535, but it remained for the Cuban 

 naturalist Felipe Poey to bring it to the notice of modern 

 scientists, in a newspaper report in El Plantel in 1838, a 

 century ago. It was not till nearly 25 years later, however, 

 that Peters was able to compare a specimen with the Hispanio- 

 lan species and point out its distinctive characters. 



In size this is slightly smaller than the species S. paradoxus, 

 about 20 inches long, tail about 7 inches, and is quite different 

 in color. In place of the blackish and buffy to ferruginous back, 

 the Cuban solenodon is blackish brown in color, with a varying 

 amount of white, or buffy, which may include only the base of 

 the muzzle, the cheeks, and a mark on each shoulder, as in a 

 specimen in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, or may be 



