Hispaniola Solenodon
"They are truly ugly creatures," said Baillie of the solenodons, a family of venomous, shrew-like insectivores that split 76 million years ago from all other mammals. Today there are two species: the Cuban Solenodon, found in Cuba, and the Hispaniola Solenodon, found in Haiti."They're part of a faunal group that evolved quite separately from both North and South America," Baillie said. "You had rodents the size of horses, a really unique animal mammal community. But with the colonization of those islands, most of those species disappeared. We're left with very few representatives."
Image: Wikimedia Commons
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