112 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



both G. columbianus and G. ingrahami, however, the ridge 

 fades out before reaching the palatal margin, while the opening 

 of the posterior nares seems more narrowed. In the former, 

 too, the enamel folds are more nearly at right angles to the 

 long axis of the tooth than in Capromys. Toothless jaws may 

 often be identified by the indication of the extra small reentrant 

 on the inner side of the tip of the anteriormost cheek tooth. 

 It is obvious that until better-preserved skulls of this species 

 are found, its distinctive characters in comparison with other 

 forms of the genus are not very well ascertained. 



This was evidently a common and well-distributed species 

 not only throughout Cuba in former days but also on the 

 adjacent Isle of Pines. On Cuba, in addition to the original 

 locality, Dr. Thomas Barbour secured numerous remains from 

 caves in Matanzas Province, as well as from the Isle of Pines, 

 and Dr. H. E. Anthony obtained an abundance of jaws and 

 palates from owl deposits in a cave at Daiquiri, in eastern 

 Cuba. In the latter instance the fragments seemed to be 

 mostly of immature and hence small animals, indicating that 

 the adults were too large to be managed by the barn owls that 

 evidently were the cause of the deposits. Why a species ap- 

 parently so common should have died out before any modern 

 specimens were obtained, and in so well populated an island 

 as Cuba, is not at all clear, for apparently they disappeared 

 before mongooses were introduced. Possibly the larger size 

 and arboreal habits of Capromys were factors in their survival, 

 whereas Geocapromys was ground-living and less able to escape. 



BAHAMAN HUTIA 

 GEOCAPROMYS INGRAHAMI (J. A. Allen) 



Capromys ingrahami J. A. Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 3, p. 329, Dec., 



1891 ("Plana [or Frenchman's] Keys, Bahamas"). 

 FIGS.: Allen, J. A., 1891, p. 335, figs. 1, 3, 5-9 (skull and teeth). 



Except for the Jamaican and Swan Island hutias, no living 

 member of this short-tailed genus is known other than this 

 small species now confined to the Plana Keys between the 

 island of Mariguana and Acklins Island in the southern part 

 of the Bahama Archipelago. 



The general color is a mixed "yellowish brown, gray and 

 black, giving the general effect of grayish brown . 



