Solenodons: Solenodontidae

Solenodons live in Haiti, Dominican Republic, and Cuba. In the past they were also found in Puerto Rico.

Solenodons occupy tropical forests on the sides of mountains, and also can be found in plantations and other flat, brushy areas.

Solenodons spend most of their nighttime hours above ground, poking their long snouts into the dirt and any other little opening they can find to search for insects, spiders, earthworms, and other invertebrates, animals without backbones. They will also claw apart old, rotten logs where many of their prey live.

Solenodons and people usually do not see one another, unless the solenodon makes its home in a plantation or garden. Homeowners and farmers sometimes view them as pests because they occasionally damage crops while rooting around in the dirt for insects and other prey that live near plants.

According to the World Conservation Union (IUCN) both species are Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also list these two species as Endangered. The causes for their decline include hunting by dogs and cats, and the removal of the forests where the solenodons live. The IUCN lists a third species, Marcano's solenodon, as extinct.