Hispaniolan edible rat

The Hispaniolan edible rat (Brotomys voratus) is a recently extinct species of rodent in the family Echimyidae. It is the only species in the genus Brotomys. It was endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, in what is today the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Its natural habitat was subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.
==Description==
Brotomys voratus was described by American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller in the early 20th century from remains found in archaeological middens of Hispaniola. Miller also identified Brotomys with the mohuy, an animal mentioned by the 16th-century Spanish historiographer and colonial mayor of Santo Domingo, Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés, in his General and Natural History of the Indies (1535):
The erect hair is typical of some members of the Echyimidae family, which are called "spiny rats" because of it. The "hutia" may be the also extinct Quemisia or Isolobodon, both larger than Brotomys.
Despite its highly sought meat, the species is thought to have been primarily driven to extinction by introduced Old World rats rather than human hunting. A mandible of Brotomys was carbon dated to 340 ± 60 years BP (1550-1670 AD).
==References==
Category:Brotomys
Category:Rodent extinctions since 1500
Category:Mammals described in 1916
Category:Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller
Category:Mammals of Hispaniola
Category:Extinct animals of the Dominican Republic
Category:Mammals of the Caribbean
Category:Mammals of the Dominican Republic
Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot