The Caribbean region is home to a diverse and largely endemic rodent fauna. This includes the endemic family Capromyidae (hutias), which are largely limited to the Greater Antilles, and two other groups of endemic hystricognaths, the heteropsomyines and giant hutias, including the extinct bear-sizedNowak, 1999, p. 1711 Amblyrhiza inundata. Lesser Antillean rodent faunas mostly consist of oryzomyines, members of a distantly related group of rodents, and include two of the largest known oryzomyines, Megalomys desmarestii and "Oryzomys hypenemus". Various other rodents are limited to land-bridge islands such as Trinidad, which were connected to the mainland during glacial-period lowered sea levels in the Pleistocene, or to smaller portions of the Caribbean archipelago. Much of the native rodent fauna of the Caribbean are extinct because of human influences, particularly following the introduction of invasive species such as Old World rats.

For the purposes of this article, the "Caribbean" includes all islands in the Caribbean Sea (except for small islets close to the mainland) and the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Barbados, which are not in the Caribbean Sea but biogeographically belong to the same Caribbean bioregion.

Overview The Caribbean rodent fauna is dominated by oryzomyines (rice rats), members of the family Cricetidae, and by three groups of hystricognaths: hutias (family Capromyidae), giant hutias (taxonomy unclear), and heteropsomyines (subfamily Heteropsomyinae), which are part of the spiny rat family (Echimyidae). Many other rodent groups are known from the Caribbean, but these are either introduced or limited to islands outside the limits of the West Indian faunal region as defined by Koopman.Koopman, 1959

So far, no rodents have been recorded from Navassa Island, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Saint Barthélemy, Redonda, Saba, the federal dependencies of Venezuela, or the Insular Region of Colombia.

Oryzomyines are a diverse group, consisting of over a hundred species found from the eastern United States south to Tierra del Fuego, including also the Galápagos Islands. In the Caribbean, they are found on many islands close to the mainland, from the Florida Keys to Tobago, but also on Jamaica and throughout the Lesser Antilles north to Anguilla. Their invasion of the Lesser Antilles must have been relatively recent, as sigmodontine rodents only reached South America from North America about 5 million years ago. In the Lesser Antilles, most species have not been named or described, and the true diversity of the group in that region remains unclear. All endemic Caribbean oryzomyines are now extinct, though several island populations of mainland species survive.Musser and Carleton, 2005; Pregill et al., 1994

Hutias are the most diverse endemic Caribbean hystricognath group and the only one that still survives, although many species are extinct. Most species are known from Cuba and Hispaniola, but hutias are also indigenous to Jamaica and some smaller islands and they have been introduced to several other parts of the Caribbean. The hutia family is divided into four subfamilies, of which one or two are now extinct.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005 They have been present in the Caribbean for a considerable span of time, as documented by the find of a hutia, Zazamys, in early Miocene sediments on Cuba. This represents more than half the age (~32 million years) of the earliest known hystricognath rodent in South America (a continent hystricognaths colonized by rafting across the Atlantic from their ancestral home in Africa).Flynn et al., 2007

Giant hutias are a heterogeneous group of hystricognaths that include not only truly giant forms like Amblyrhiza, but also the small Xaymaca. All are now extinct. Some have previously been included in a family Heptaxodontidae, but there is little evidence that the group is truly natural. Giant hutias are known from Jamaica (Clidomys, Xaymaca, and possibly another, very large form), Hispaniola (Quemisia), Puerto Rico (Elasmodontomys, Tainotherium), and Anguilla and Saint Martin in the northern Lesser Antilles (Amblyrhiza).Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005; MacPhee and Flemming, 2003; Turvey et al., 2009

Heteropsomyines form a distinct subfamily of the widespread Neotropic family of spiny rats, which is known only from Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. On each island, a distinct genus with two species has been found, but all are now extinct. A fourth genus, Puertoricomys, is known from an older, perhaps Pliocene, deposit on Puerto Rico.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005; MacPhee et al., 2003, p. 18 These animals exhibited characters intermediate between hutias and spiny rats and have sometimes been treated as a subfamily of the Capromyidae.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005 p. 1591

Among introduced rodents, the house mouse (Mus musculus), brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), and black rat (Rattus rattus) are most common; these three species, originally from the Old World, have been introduced to all parts of the world and occur throughout the Caribbean.Musser and Carleton, 2005 They are not mentioned specifically in the faunal lists in this article.

Agoutis, members of a mainland American hystricognath genus that is also indigenous to some Caribbean islands, have also been widely introduced, resulting, among others, in the presence of the red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) on most of the Lesser Antilles. Several other hystricognaths have also been introduced in parts of the Caribbean.

The genera of Caribbean rodents are classified as follows:Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005; Musser and Carleton, 2005; Thorington and Hoffmann, 2005; Patton, 2005 Order Rodentia Suborder Hystricomorpha Infraorder Hystricognathi (hystricognaths) Family Capromyidae (hutias) Subfamily Capromyinae: Capromys, Geocapromys, Mesocapromys, Mysateles Subfamily Hexolobodontinae: Hexolobodon Subfamily Isolobodontinae: Isolobodon, Zazamys Subfamily Plagiodontiinae: Plagiodontia, Rhizoplagiodontia Giant hutias (informal group, likely not monophyletic)Turvey et al., 2009, pp. 588–589 Subfamily Clidomyinae: Clidomys Subfamily Heptaxodontinae: Amblyrhiza, Elasmodontomys Not assigned to subfamily: Quemisia, Tainotherium, Xaymaca Family Echimyidae (spiny rats) Subfamily Heteropsomyinae: Boromys, Brotomys, Heteropsomys, Puertoricomys Subfamily Echimyinae: Makalata, Pattonomys, Proechimys Subfamily Eumysopinae: Proechimys Family Dasyproctidae: Dasyprocta (agoutis; partly introduced) Family Cuniculidae (pacas): Cuniculus (partly introduced) Family Caviidae Subfamily Caviinae (cavies): Cavia (introduced) Subfamily Hydrochoerinae (capybaras): Hydrochoerus Family Erethizontidae (New World porcupines): Coendou Suborder Sciuromorpha Family Sciuridae (squirrels) Subfamily Sciurinae: Sciurus Suborder Castorimorpha Superfamily Geomyioidea Family Geomyidae (pocket gophers): Orthogeomys Family Heteromyidae (heteromyids): Heteromys Suborder Myomorpha Superfamily Muroidea (muroids) Family Muridae Subfamily Murinae (Old World rats and mice, murines): Mus, Rattus (both introduced) Family Nesomyidae Subfamily Cricetomyinae: Cricetomys (introduced) Family Cricetidae Subfamily Neotominae Tribe Neotomini: Neotoma (woodrats) Tribe Reithrodontomyini: Peromyscus (deermice), Reithrodontomys (harvest mice) Subfamily Sigmodontinae (sigmodontines) Tribe Akodontini (akodontines): Necromys Tribe Oryzomyini (rice rats, oryzomyines): Agathaeromys, Dushimys, Hylaeamys, Megalomys, Nectomys, Oecomys, Oligoryzomys, Oryzomys, Pennatomys, Zygodontomys, various unidentified genera Tribe Phyllotini (phyllotines): Calomys Tribe Sigmodontini (cotton rats): Sigmodon Tribe Thomasomyini (thomasomyines): Rhipidomys

Greater Antilles The four islands of the Greater Antilles, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico, are home to a diverse indigenous hystricognath fauna. Jamaica also harbors an indigenous oryzomyine and various introduced rodents now occur on all islands.

Cuba

Cuba, the largest of the Antilles, and its surrounding islands, of which the Isla de la Juventud is the most significant, harbor a diverse hutia fauna, including many species with very limited distributions. Various other hutias and an endemic genus of heteropsomyine became extinct during the Quaternary and the oldest known hutia, Zazamys, has been found in Miocene Cuban deposits.

† Boromys - Cuban cave rats † Boromys offella - Oriente cave rat, an extinct spiny rat known from both the main island and the Isla de la Juventud.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1592 † Boromys torrei - Torre's cave rat, another extinct spiny rat from both Cuba and the Isla de la Juventud. Capromys † Capromys acevado, an extinct hutia, sometimes placed in a separate genus Macrocapromys.Woods et al., 2001, p. 336 † Capromys antiquus, an extinct hutia. † Capromys arrendondoi, an extinct hutia. Capromys garridoi, - Garrido's hutia, a hutia known only from a small island close to Cayo Largo del Sur in the Canarreos Archipelago off southwestern Cuba.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1597 † Capromys latus, an extinct hutia. † Capromys pappus, an extinct hutia known from Isla de la Juventud. Capromys pilorides - Desmarest's hutia or Cuban hutia, the most common and largest extant hutia, widespread on Cuba and many nearby islands, including Isla de la Juventud.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1594 The previously recognized Geocapromys megas is a synonym of this species.Díaz-Franco, 2001 † Capromys robustus, an extinct hutia. Cuniculus - Paca Cuniculus paca - Lowland paca, a large hystricognath indigenous to Central and South America, including Trinidad and Tobago and introduced to Cuba.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1559 Dasyprocta - Agouti Dasyprocta mexicana - Mexican agouti, an agouti from Mexico that has been introduced to Cuba.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1558 Dasyprocta punctata - Central American agouti, a Central and South American agouti introduced to both the Cayman Islands and Cuba. Geocapromys Geocapromys brownii - Jamaican coney, a hutia indigenous to Jamaica. It was found in an Amerindian archeological site, probably indicating transport by humans.Díaz-Franco and Jímenez Vázquez, 2008 † Geocapromys columbianus - Cuban coney, an extinct hutia related to extant Bahamian and Jamaican Geocapromys that persisted until after the first European contact. in IUCN, 2009 (accessed September 13, 2009); cf. Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1595 It was found on both Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. † Geocapromys pleistocenicus, an extinct species of Cuba known from Cuba and Isla de la Juventud. Mesocapromys Mesocapromys angelcabrerai - Cabrera's hutia, a small hutia from Cayos de Ana Maria, Ciego de Ávila Province, and possibly the nearby mainland. Mesocapromys auritus - Large-eared hutia, a hutia from Cayo Fragoso in the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago. † Mesocapromys barbouri, an extinct hutia. † Mesocapromys beatrizae, an extinct hutia. † Mesocapromys delicatus, an extinct hutia. † Mesocapromys gracilis, an extinct hutia. † Mesocapromys kraglievichi, an extinct hutia. Mesocapromys melanurus - Black-tailed hutia, a hutia from eastern mainland Cuba which was formerly placed in Mysateles.Woods and Kilpatrick, 2005, p. 1596 † Mesocapromys minimus, an extinct hutia. Mesocapromys nana - Dwarf hutia, a small hutia from the Zapata Swamp in Matanzas Province on mainland Cuba. Mesocapromys sanfelipensis - San Felipe hutia, a hutia from Cayo Juan Garcia in Pinar del Río Province. † Mesocapromys silvai, an extinct hutia. Mysateles † Mysateles jaumei, an extinct hutia. Mysateles prehensilis - Prehensile-tailed hutia, a hutia from western mainland Cuba. M. p. meridionalis - Isla De La Juventud tree hutia, a hutia from the southwestern part of the Isla de la Juventud. † Zazamys