Almiqui

Almiqui
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Insectivora Family: Solenodontidae Genus: Solenodon Species: cubanus
Binomial name
Solenodon cubanus

The Almiqui (Solenodon cubanus) is an insectivore native to Cuba, believed extinct until rediscovered in 2003 in the eastern mountains.[1] 70-80 centimeters (28-32 inches) long from nose to tail, the Almiqui resembles a large brown rat with an extremely elongated snout and a long, naked, scaly tail.

The Cuban Almiqui was mistakenly believed extinct since the last sighting in 1999 mainly because it is a nocturnal burrower, living underground. It is therefore very rarely seen. Since its discovery in 1861 by the German naturalist Wilham Peters, only 36 had ever been caught. The Almiqui that was found in 2003, named Alejandrito, brought the number to 37. He weighed 24 ounces and was healthy. He was released back into the wild after two days of scientific study were completed. The Almiqui belongs to the family Solenodontidae along with a similar species, the Agouta (Solenodon paradoxus), which was once also native to Haiti. Its population there is believed to have been destroyed by the mongoose imported to exterminate snakes.

With small eyes, and dark brown to black hair, it is sometimes compared to a shrew, although it most closely resembles the family Tenrecidae, of Madagascar.

While it is not yet extinct, it is still an endangered species, in part because it only breeds a single litter of one to three in a year, and like the agouta, because of predation by species that were introduced by humans.