Nesophontes micrus
– Extinct
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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ANIMALIA
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Phylum:
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CHORDATA
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Class:
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MAMMALIA
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Order:
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SORICOMORPHA
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Family:
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NESOPHONTIDAE
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Scientific Name:
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Nesophontes micrus
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Species Authority:
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G.M. Allen, 1917
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Common Name/s:
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| English | — | WESTERN CUBAN NESOPHONTES |
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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EX ver 2.3 (1994)
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Year Assessed:
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1996
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Annotations:
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Needs updating
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Assessor/s:
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre
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Justification:
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Nesophontes micrus is known only from skulls and skeletal material found in owl pellets. The remains were found together with those of Rattusand Mus and the species therefore is thought to have become extinct after the arrival of Europeans in the West Indies.
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History:
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| 1994 | - | Extinct (Groombridge 1994) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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Cuba and the Isle of Pines.
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Countries:
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Regionally extinct:
Cuba; Haiti
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Population
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Population:
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This species is known only from skulls and skeletal material found in owl pellets.
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Habitat and Ecology
Threats
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Threats:
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The presence of Nesophontes bones with those of Rattus and Mus, which were introduced to the island by European ships, suggests that most species from this genus became extinct with the arrival of the Europeans in the West Indies. The burning of forests for cultivation is also considered to have contributed to the extinction of these species.
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Bibliography
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Bibliography:
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Groombridge, B. (ed.) 1994. 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. Nowak, R.M. (ed.) 1999. Walkers Mammals of the World. Sixth edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London. Wilson, D.E. and Reeder, D.M. (eds). 1993. Mammal Species of the World: a taxonomic and geographic reference. Second edition. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington and London.
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