List of eulipotyphlans of the Caribbean
The Caribbean region is home to two unique families of the mammalian order Eulipotyphla (incorporating the now defunct order Soricomorpha), which also includes the hedgehogs, gymnures shrews, moles and desmans. Only one Caribbean family, that of the solenodons, is still extant; the other, Nesophontidae, became extinct within the last few centuries. For the purposes of this article, the "Caribbean" includes all islands in the Caribbean Sea (except for small islets close to the mainland) and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to  the same Caribbean bioregion. Overview. About fifteen species of Caribbean eulipotyphlans are known to have existed during the Quaternary, but not all "Nesophontes" species are universally accepted as valid. However, most of these, including all "Nesophontes", are now extinct; the Cuban solenodon is classified as Endangered, while the Hispaniolan solenodon is classified as Least Concern. The interrelationships of the two Caribbean genera remain unclear. Similarities in skull morphology have led some to propose close affinities between the two, but differences in characters of the teeth are evidence against a close relationship. DNA evidence suggests that solenodons are a sister group  to a clade of shrews, moles, and erinaceids, with a molecular clock, providing evidence that the split from the other families occurred in the Cretaceous period, late in the Mesozoic era. How they came to the Antilles is unknown; they may have arrived either via overwater dispersal or via some sort of land bridge from North America, South America, or even Africa, and "Nesophontes" and solenodons may have different origins. The genera of Caribbean eulipotyphlans are classified as follows: Cuba. Cuba, the largest of the Antilles, also has the largest inventory of eulipotyphlans, including five members of "Nesophontes" and two  solenodons. Isla de la Juventud. Isla de la Juventud is a large island south of Cuba. Cayman Islands. Two extinct undescribed species of "Nesophontes" are known from several cave deposits on the Cayman Islands, a British archipelago south of Cuba. The two are similar in morphology, but the species from Grand Cayman is larger than the one from Cayman Brac. They are closely related to each other and to the Cuban–Hispaniolan species "N. micrus". The oldest record is from the latest Pleistocene, but they probably arrived there earlier in the Pleistocene, if not in the Pliocene. In the youngest  layers of several deposits, "Nesophontes" is found together with introduced "Rattus", indicating that its extinction occurred relatively recently. Hispaniola. Hispaniola is the second largest of the Antilles. It is divided into Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Gonâve. Gonâve is an island off western Hispaniola, part of Haiti. Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is the smallest and easternmost of the Greater Antilles. Vieques. Vieques is the largest island associated with Puerto Rico; it is located east of the main island. Saint John. Saint John is one of the main islands of the northern United States Virgin Islands. Saint Thomas. Saint Thomas is  one of the main islands of the northern United States Virgin Islands.