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solenodon[sOlE´nudon] Pronunciation Key, insectivorous mammal, genus Solenodon, found in the West Indies. Related to moles, shrews, and hedgehogs, the solenodon resembles a rat with an elongated snout and coarse, shaggy fur. Its body is about 14 in. (36 cm) long, and its naked, scaly tail c.9 in. (23 cm) long. Solenodons are chiefly nocturnal; they eat insects, lizards, frogs, and other small animals, as well as carrion. Easily irritated, they fly into sudden rages, screaming and biting without provocation. There are two solenodon species. S. cubanus, found in the Bayama Mts. of Cuba, is rusty brown with black on its back and throat; S. paradoxus, found in Haiti, is darker brown with a yellowish face and a ruff of hair about the shoulders. Solenodons are slow breeders, bearing a single litter of one to three young each year. Their numbers have been greatly reduced since the introduction of predators such as the mongoose, the cat, and the dog, and they are now threatened with extinction. They are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Mammalia, order Insectivora, family Solenodontidae.
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