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CHAP. XIV.] THE NEOTROPICAL REGION. 63
found in Hayti and the other large islands, and it is r.ot im-
probable that species allied to Nasua and Dasypruda did
exist, and have been destroyed by the dogs of the invaders
though, on the other hand, these names may have been applied
to the existing species, which do bear some general resemblance
to these two forms.
The Chiroptera, or bats, are represented by a large number of
species and by several peculiar genera. The American family
of Phyllostomidse or vampires, has six genera in the Antilles, of
which three, Loncliorina, Brachyphylla, and Phyllonyderis, are
peculiar, the latter being found only in Cuba. The Vesperti-
lionidse have four genera, of which one, Nydicellus, is confined to
Cuba. There are six genera of Noctilionidse, of which one,
Phyllodia, is confined to Jamaica.
The Insectivora are represented by the genus Solenodon, of
which two species are known, one inhabiting Cuba the other
Hayti, These are small animals about the size of a cat, with
long shrew-like snout, bare rat-like tail, and long claws. Their
peculiar dentition and other points of their anatomy shows that
they belong to the family Centetidae, of which five different genera
inhabit Madagascar ; while there is nothing closely allied to
them in any other part of the world but in these two islands.
Seals are said to be found on the shores of some of the islands,
but they are very imperfectly known.
The rodents belong to the family Octodontidse, or, according
to some authors, to the Echimyidse, both characteristic South
American groups. They consist of two genera, Capromys, con-
taining three or four species inhabiting Cuba and Jamaica
while Plagiodontia (very closely allied) is confined to Hayti.
A peculiar mouse, a species of the American genus Hcsperomys,
is said to inhabit Hayti and Martinique, and probably other
islands. A Dasyproda or agouti, closely allied to, if not identical
with, a South American species, inhabits St. Vincent, St. Lucia,
and Grenada, and perhaps St. Thomas, and is the only mammal
of any size indigenous to the Lesser Antilles. All the islands
in which sugar is cultivated are, however, overrun with European
rats and mice, and it is not improbable that these may have