Mesocapromys sanfelipensis Varona and Garrido 1970

Mesocapromys sanfelipensis Varona and Garrido 1970, Poeyana, ser. A, 75: 3.

Type Locality: Cuba, Pinar del Rio Prov., Archipiélago de los Canarreos, Cayo Juan Garcia (21 o 59’N, 83 o 31’W) .

Vernacular Names: San Felipe Hutia.

Distribution: Known only from four specimens collected at the type locality.

Conservation: U.S. ESA – Endangered as Capromys sanfelipensis; IUCN – Critically Endangered. Fire destroyed much of its habitat on Cayo Juan Garcia (Frias et al., 1988) and thus may now be extinct.

Discussion: Placed in subgenus Mesocapromys by Varona (1974), and in genus Mesocapromys, subgenus Paracapromys by Kratochvíl et al. (1978:15). The habitat of this species is uncertain, but all known specimens were captured in grasslands ( Salicornia perennis = "yerba de vidrio") rather than mangroves.