Facts
  • Known from the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic).
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  • The Hispaniolan solenodon and its relative the Cuban solenodon are the only living mammals to posses modified incisors which enable them to inject venom into their prey like a snake.
  • Solenodons diverged from all other living mammals during the Cretaceous Period, an incredible 76 million years ago. This separation occurred at least as long ago as the branching of many entire mammalian orders (e.g. pangolins versus carnivores, or manatees versus elephants).
  • The two living solenodon species are believed to have diverged around 25 million years ago, when northern Hispaniola separated from eastern Cuba. This separation is comparable to the divergence between distinct mammalian families, for example, dolphins versus whales (30 Myr ago), or humans versus Old World monkeys (23 Myr ago).
  • Solenodons are among the few land mammals to survive European colonisation of the West Indies.
Threats
  • The main threats are habitat loss due to increasing human activity and deforestation.
  • The introduction of exotic predators, such as dogs, cats and mongooses may also be detrimental to solendon populations. Since the species had no natural predators before European colonisation of Hispaniola, and is a slow clumsy mover, it does not possess many defences against introduced animals.
Conservation Required
  • Surveys and monitoring programmes to discover more about solenodon conservation status, ecology, distribution and behaviour.
  • Study the impact of habitat destruction on the species.
  • Determine abundance and distribution of introduced mammals.
  • Development of a comprehensive Conservation Action Plan detailing actions needed to save the species.


Proposed Actions

EDGE aims to determine the status of this poorly-known species and make recommendations for the development of appropriate conservation measures to secure its future.

The Hispaniolan solenodon is an ancient West Indian insectivore known from the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). Solenodons have the unique ability to inject venom into their prey through specialised grooves in their incisors. Before European colonisation of Hispaniola the species was one of the dominant predators on the island. It never evolved any “anti-predator” defences and is therefore poorly equipped to defend itself against introduced predators such as dogs, cats and mongooses. The species may also be declining as a result of the loss of its forest habitat to logging.

EDGE researchers, in collaboration with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust plan to assess the current conservation status and distribution of the species, determine the relative impacts of habitat destruction and introduced mammals, to allow the development of an appropriate conservation management strategy.

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Associated Blogs
8th Mar 10
I simply can’t write this blog without mentioning the devastating earthquake that hit Hispaniola on the 12 of January 2010; it was felt throughout the isla...  Read

3rd Mar 10
A partnership of UK conservation organisations – BirdLife International, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Zoological Society of London's EDG...  Read

30th Dec 09
It has been over a month since my last update so I thought it was time to bring you up to date with everything that has been happening. The last few weeks...  Read

28th Oct 09
The EDGE Team has just received its first blog from Jose Nuñez-Miño, Project Manager for the new UK Darwin Initiative funded Hispaniolan Endemic Land Mamma...  Read

24th Mar 09
Osé is an EDGE Fellow working on conservation of the Hispaniolan solenodon in Haiti. Here he reports on the findings from his EDGE Fellowship fieldwork in t...  Read

25th Feb 09
A three-year conservation project for Hispaniola’s native mammals has just received large-scale support from the UK-based Darwin Initiative, a scheme which...  Read

9th Jan 09
The Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus), a top EDGE species, is one of the world’s weirdest mammals. The two living solenodon species diverged fr...  Read

21st Jul 08
Osé is an EDGE Fellow working on conservation of the Hispaniolan solenodon in the Massif de la Hotte, Haiti. Here he reports on some of his findings from re...  Read

19th Feb 08
We are thrilled to introduce our latest EDGE Fellow from Haiti- Osé Pauléus. He will be working to conserve Hispaniolan solenodons and their habitats in ...  Read