|
The Caribbean region is home to two unique families of the mammalian order Eulipotyphla (incorporating the now defunct order Soricomorpha), which also includes the hedgehogs, gymnures shrews, moles and desmans. Only one Caribbean family, that of the solenodons, is still extant; the other, Nesophontidae, went extinct within the last few centuries. For the purposes of this article, the "Caribbean" includes all islands in the Caribbean Sea (except for small islets close to the mainland) and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion. ==Overview== About fifteen species of Caribbean eulipotyphlans are known to have existed during the Quaternary, but not all ''Nesophontes'' species are universally accepted as valid.〔Hutterer, 2005, p. 220〕 However, most of these, including all ''Nesophontes'', are now extinct, and the two surviving solenodons are classified as "endangered".〔(IUCN ), (2015 )〕 The interrelationships of the two Caribbean genera remain unclear. Similarities in skull morphology have led some to propose close affinities between the two, but differences in characters of the teeth are evidence against a close relationship.〔Whidden and Asher, 2001, p. 237〕 DNA evidence suggests that ''Solenodon'' is sister to a clade of shrews, moles, and erinaceids, with a molecular clock providing evidence that the split from the other families occurred in the Cretaceous period, late in the Mesozoic era.〔Roca et al., 2004〕 How they came to the Antilles is unknown; they may have arrived either via overwater dispersal or via some sort of land bridge from North America, South America, or even Africa, and ''Nesophontes'' and ''Solenodon'' may have different origins.〔Whidden and Asher, 2001, pp. 248–249〕 The genera of Caribbean eulipotyphlans are classified as follows:〔Hutterer, 2005〕 *Order Eulipotyphla * *Family Nesophontidae: ''Nesophontes'' * *Family Solenodontidae: ''Solenodon'' * *Unidentified genus〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「List of eulipotyphlans of the Caribbean」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|