Hutia

Hutias (known in Spanish as jutía) are moderately large cavy-like rodents of the subfamily Capromyinae (from Ancient Greek κάπρος (kápros), meaning "pig, boar", and μῦς (mûs), meaning "mouse, rat") that inhabit the Caribbean islands. Most species are restricted to Cuba, but species are known from all of the Greater Antilles, as well as the Bahamas and (formerly) Little Swan Island off Honduras. Twenty species of hutia have been identified, but at least half are extinct. Only Desmarest's hutia and the prehensile-tailed hutia remain common and widespread; all other extant species are considered threatened by the IUCN. The extinct giant hutias of the family Heptaxodontidae also inhabited the Caribbean, but are not thought to be closely related, with the giant hutias belonging in the superfamily Chinchilloidea.