Eulipotyphla is an order of mammals suggested by molecular methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, and includes the laurasiatherian members of the now-invalid polyphyletic order Lipotyphla, but not the afrotherian members. Lipotyphla in turn had been derived by removing a number of groups from Insectivora, the previously used wastebasket taxon.
The Cuban solenodon, or almiquí, is a species of eulipotyphlan endemic to Cuba. It is the only species in the genus Atopogale. It belongs to the family Solenodontidae along with a similar species, the Hispaniolan solenodon. The solenodon is unusual among mammals in that its saliva is toxic and acts as venom.
Solenodons are venomous, nocturnal, burrowing, insectivorous mammals belonging to the family Solenodontidae. The two living solenodon species are the Cuban solenodon, and the Hispaniolan solenodon. Threats to both species include habitat destruction and predation by non-native cats, dogs, and mongooses, introduced by humans to the solenodons' home islands to control snakes and rodents.
Nesophontes, sometimes called West Indies shrews, is the sole genus of the extinct, monotypic mammal family Nesophontidae in the order Eulipotyphla. These animals were small insectivores, about 5 to 15 cm long, with a long slender snout and head and a long tail. They were endemic to the Greater Antilles, in Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands.
The Hispaniolan solenodon, is a solenodon endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. It was first described by Johann Friedrich von Brandt in 1833. A similar but smaller species, Marcano's solenodon (S. marcanoi), once lived on the island, but became extinct after European colonization. Along with the often sympatric Hispaniolan hutia, it is one of two extant native land mammals on Hispaniola.
Soricomorpha is a formerly used taxon within the class of mammals. In the past it formed a significant group within the former order Insectivora. However, Insectivora was shown to be polyphyletic and various new orders were split off from it, including Afrosoricida, Macroscelidea, and Erinaceomorpha, with the four remaining extant and recent families of Soricomorpha shown here then being treated as a separate order. Insectivora was left empty and disbanded.
Pulsatrix is a genus of owl in the family Strigidae. They are called spectacled owls because of their prominent facial pattern. The genus contains the following species:
Marcano's solenodon is an extinct species of mammal in the family Solenodontidae known only from skeletal remains found on the island of Hispaniola.
The Caribbean bioregion is a biogeographic region that includes the islands of the Caribbean Sea and nearby Atlantic islands, which share a fauna, flora and mycobiota distinct from surrounding bioregions.
Sierra Cristal National Park is a national park in Cuba. It is located in the municipalities of Mayarí and Sagua de Tánamo in southern Holguín Province. It was the first National Park created in Cuba in 1930, and covers an area of 185.37 km2 (71.57 sq mi).
Cuchillas del Toa is a Biosphere Reserve in Cuba. It is located in the eastern part of the country, mostly in the Guantánamo Province and reaching to the north into the Holguín Province. Most of the reserve is established in the drainage area of the Toa River, which flows for 118 km (73 mi) to the Atlantic Ocean in Baracoa.
The Cuban moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion that occupies 21,400 km2 on Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. The ecoregion receives more than 2,000 mm (79 in) of rainfall annually, and does not have a dry season. Soils are usually derived from quartz, limestone, or serpentinites. Cuban moist forests can be differentiated into lowland forests, sub-montane forests, and montane forests.
A unique and diverse albeit phylogenetically restricted mammal fauna is known from the Caribbean region. The region—specifically, all islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion—has been home to several families found nowhere else, but much of this diversity is now extinct.
Oscar Paulino Arredondo de la Mata was a Cuban paleontologist. He described a number of birds and mammals of the Quaternary Period from fossils obtained from Cuban caves. He has been called the "father of Cuban vertebrate paleontology".
Solenodon is a genus of mammal, one of only two in the family Solenodontidae. According to the American Society of Mammalogists, it includes 3 species known to have existed in recent times, of which only one is extant.
