Bahamian Hutia :: Geocapromys ingrahami

Bad at Goodbyes :: Episode 073

On today’s show we learn about the Bahamian Hutia, a critically endangered mammal, a rodent, native to the Bahamas archipelago in the Caribbean region, in the Atlantic Ocean. Its scientific name is Geocapromys ingrahami and it was first described in 1891.

• (00:05) Intro
• (02:05) Species Information
• (26:25) Citations
• (28:32) Music
• (33:34) Pledge

For more information about Bahamian Hutia conservation, please see the Bahamas National Trust at https://bnt.bs/

Research for today’s show was compiled from:

• Allen, J.A. 1891-08-31. Description of a new species of Capromys from the Plana Keys, Bahamas. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 3(23):329-336. – https://hdl.handle.net/2246/839
• Campbell, D. G., Lowell, K. S., Lightbourn, M. E. 1991. The effect of introduced Hutias (Geocapromys ingrahami) on the woody vegetation of Little Wax Cay, Bahamas. Conservation Biology 5: 536-541 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1991.tb00361.x
• Cartwright, F.B., Davis, A., Kennerley, R. & Turvey, S.T. 2024. Geocapromys ingrahami. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2024: e.T9002A224590046. – https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T9002A224590046.en
• Clough, Garrett C. 1973. “A Most Peaceable Rodent.” Natural History 82 (6): 66–74. – http://hdl.handle.net/2246/6480
• Clough, Garrett C. “The Bahaman Hutia: A Rodent Refound.” Oryx 10, no. 2 (1969): 106–8. – https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300007936
• Clough, Garrett C. 1976. “Current Status of Two Endangered Caribbean Rodents.” Biological Conservation 10, no. 1 (July): 43–47. – https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(76)90023-9
• Jordan, Kevin Clark. 1989. "An Ecology of the Bahamian Hutia : Geocapromys Ingrahami". Doctoral Dissertation; University of Florida. – https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/207298
• Knowles, Lindy, and Casuarina McKinney-Lambert. 2013. Southeastern Bahamas Coral Reef & Island Survey: Rapid Ecological Assessment Report. Nassau: Bahamas National Trust & BREEF. – https://www.agrra.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SE-Bahamas-Coral-Reef-and-Island-Survey-Final-REA-Report-9-24-13.pdf
• Kennerley, Ros. 2024. “Safeguarding the Future of Critically Endangered Bahaman Hutia Within the Bahaman Archipelago Through Evidenced Based Management.” Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. December 23, 2024. - https://www.speciesconservation.org/small-grant/bahamian-hutia/36130
• LeFebvre MJ, deFrance SD, Kamenov GD, Keegan WF, Krigbaum J (2019) The zooarchaeology and isotopic ecology of the Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami): Evidence for pre-Columbian anthropogenic management. PLoS ONE 14(9): e0220284. – https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0220284
• LeFebvre, Michelle, Geoffrey Duchemin, Susan deFrance, William Keegan, and Kristen Walczesky. 2018. “Bahamian Hutia (Geocapromys Ingrahami) in the Lucayan Realm: Pre-Columbian Exploitation and Translocation.” Environmental Archaeology 24, no. 2 (August): 171–87. – https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2018.1503809
• Oswald, J.A., Allen, J.M., LeFebvre, M.J. et al. Ancient DNA and high-resolution chronometry reveal a long-term human role in the historical diversity and biogeography of the Bahamian hutia. Scientific Reports v 10, 1373 (2020). – https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58224-y
• Rebach, Judith A. Osborn, "Comparison of the Gas Exchange and Water Balance of the Nutria, Myocastorcoypus, and the Hutia, Geocapromys Ingrahami" (1971). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 2617. University of Rhode Island. – https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/2617
• Turvey, Samuel T., Rosalind J. Kennerley, Jose M. Nuñez-Miño, and Richard P. Young. 2017. “The Last Survivors: Current Status and Conservation of the Non-Volant Land Mammals of the Insular Caribbean.” Journal of Mammalogy 98, no. 4 (August): 918–36. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyw154
• Wilson, Don E., Thomas E. Lacher Jr., and Russell A. Mittermeier. 2016. “Geocapromys Ingrahami.” In Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6: Lagomorphs and Rodents I, 552–604. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. – https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6624107

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A note on accuracy: I strive for it! These episodes are well-researched and built from scholarly sources, hoping to provide an informed and accurate portrait of these species. That said, I’m a musician! I am not an academic and have limited scientific background. I may get things wrong! If you are using this podcast for scholarship of any kind, please see the cited sources and double-check all information.