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The giant hutias are an extinct group of large rodents known from fossil and subfossil material in the West Indies. One species, ''Amblyrhiza inundata'', is estimated to have weighed between , big specimens being as large as an American black bear. This is much larger than capybara, the largest rodent living today, but still much smaller than ''Josephoartigasia monesi'', the largest rodent known. These animals may have persisted into historic times and were probably used as a food source by aboriginal humans. All giant hutias are in a single family, Heptaxodontidae, which contains no living species; this grouping seems to be paraphyletic and artificial however. One of the smaller species, ''Quemisia'', may have survived as late as the days when the Spanish were beginning to conquer North America. Some of their nongiant relatives from the family Capromyidae, known as hutias, survive in the Caribbean Islands. == Taxonomy == The giant hutias are divided into two subfamilies, five genera, and six species. *Family Heptaxodontidae * *Subfamily Heptaxodontinae * * *Genus ''Amblyrhiza'' * * * *''Amblyrhiza inundata'' from Anguilla and St. Martin * * *Genus ''Elasmodontomys'' * * * *''Elasmodontomys obliquus'' from Puerto Rico * * *Genus ''Quemisia'' * * * *''Quemisia gravis'' from Hispaniola * * *Genus ''Xaymaca'' * * * *''Xaymaca fulvopulvis'' from Jamaica * *Subfamily Clidomyinae * * *Genus ''Clidomys'' * * * *''Clidomys osborni'' from Jamaica 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「giant hutia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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