Plagiodontia

Plagiodontia is a genus of rodent in the subfamily Capromyinae (hutias). All known species are endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (in the present-day Dominican Republic and Haiti).

Plagiodontia
Hispaniolan hutia (P. aedium)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Rodentia
Family:	Echimyidae
Subfamily:	Capromyinae
Tribe:	Plagiodontini
Genus:	Plagiodontia F. Cuvier, 1836
Type species
Plagiodontia aedium F. Cuvier, 1836
Species
Plagiodontia aedium † Plagiodontia ipnaeum † Plagiodontia spelaeum

The genus name Plagiodontia means "oblique tooth", and derives from the two ancient greek words πλάγιος (plágios), meaning "placed sideways", and ὀδούς, ὀδόντος (odoús, odóntos), meaning "tooth".^[1][2]

Systematics

This genus contains the following three species (two of them extinct):

• Hispaniolan hutia (Plagiodontia aedium) F. Cuvier, 1836
• † Samaná hutia (Plagiodontia ipnaeum) Johnson, 1948
• † Plagiodontia spelaeum Miller, 1929

Phylogeny

Within Capromyidae, Plagiodontia is the deepest branching genus, belonging to the tribe Plagiodontini. It is the sister group to the other genera Geocapromys, Mesocapromys, Mysateles and Capromys, all belonging to the tribe Capromyini.

Genus-level cladogram of the Capromyidae with their relationship to Carterodon and Euryzygomatomyinae.

Octodontoidea   Euryzygomatomyinae             Trinomys (Atlantic spiny rats)             Clyomys   Euryzygomatomys (guiaras)   Carterodon (Owl's spiny rat) Capromyidae   Plagiodontini     Plagiodontia   Capromyini     Geocapromys                       Capromys (Desmarest's hutia)             Mesocapromys   Mysateles Fossorial genera

The cladogram has been reconstructed from mitochondrial and nuclear DNA characters.[3][4][5][6][7][8]