---
title: "What the sources say about the Hispaniolan Solenodon | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "77 claims from the Hispaniolan Solenodon profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/hispaniolan-solenodon-1.webp"
canonical: "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/hispaniolan-solenodon/sources/"
---

# What the sources say about the Hispaniolan Solenodon (*Solenodon paradoxus*)

> 77 claims from the Hispaniolan Solenodon profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Hispaniolan Solenodon](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/hispaniolan-solenodon/)

## Solenodon paradoxus. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.

https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Solenodon_paradoxus/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Forests, brushy woodland, and agricultural mosaics on the island of Hispaniola, sheltering by day in burrows, hollow logs, and caves | can be found in wooded and brushy areas (note: stats.habitat, part 1) |
| Forests, brushy woodland, and agricultural mosaics on the island of Hispaniola, sheltering by day in burrows, hollow logs, and caves | Because solenodons are nocturnal they find shelter during the day in tunnel systems that they construct by burrowing through organic material and soil. (note: stats.habitat, part 3) |
| Forests, brushy woodland, and agricultural mosaics on the island of Hispaniola, sheltering by day in burrows, hollow logs, and caves | They also take refuge in hollowed logs and trees, caves, and cracks in rocks. (note: stats.habitat, part 4) |
| Forests, brushy woodland, and agricultural mosaics on the island of Hispaniola, sheltering by day in burrows, hollow logs, and caves | Solenodon paradoxus can be found exclusively on the island of Hispaniola (note: stats.habitat, part 5) |
| Millipedes, ground beetles, crickets, earthworms, and snails, plus amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally nestling and ground-dwelling birds | Foods eaten include: millipedes (Iulides), ground beetles (Carabidae), various orthopteran insects (Gryllidae, Tettigoniidae, Blattidae), earthworms (Lumbricidae) and various types of snails. (note: stats.diet, invertebrate half; 'crickets' glosses the orthopterans (Gryllidae are crickets)) |
| Likely the largest living venomous land mammal, delivering venom through a grooved second lower incisor; lab tests suggest it lowers blood pressure. | The second lower incisor has a groove from which a venom is secreted from a mandibular gland. (note: superpower, part 2) |
| The Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) looks much like a shrew, but a considerably larger one, with a long, cartilaginous snout. | Solenodon paradoxus looks much like a shrew. However, it is considerably larger. |
| The Hispaniolan Solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus) looks much like a shrew, but a considerably larger one, with a long, cartilaginous snout. | the os proboscis, a bone (which supports a long cartilaginous snout) located on the tip of the rostrum |
| Animal Diversity Web puts the species at 28 to 33 centimetres long and 600 grams to a full kilogram | Range mass 600 to 1000 g |
| Animal Diversity Web puts the species at 28 to 33 centimetres long and 600 grams to a full kilogram | Range length 0.28 to 0.33 m (note: 0.28-0.33 m = 28-33 cm) |
| A solenodon makes venom in glands beneath its lower jaw and delivers it through an enlarged, grooved second lower incisor. | The second lower incisor has a groove from which a venom is secreted from a mandibular gland. |
| They forage by digging tunnel systems under the ground and searching the surrounding soil for insects and other invertebrates. | Solenodon paradoxus collects food by digging extensive tunnel systems under the ground, then foraging for insects and other invertebrates from the surrounding soil. |
| Animal Diversity Web lists their foods as millipedes, ground beetles, crickets and other orthopteran insects, earthworms and snails. | Foods eaten include: millipedes (Iulides), ground beetles (Carabidae), various orthopteran insects (Gryllidae, Tettigoniidae, Blattidae), earthworms (Lumbricidae) and various types of snails. |
| Clumsy, Social, and Still Surviving | a "clumsy runner with no agility in avoiding enemies and a poor means of defense" (note: heading, part 1) |
| Animal Diversity Web describes it as a slow mover and a clumsy runner with no agility in avoiding enemies and a poor means of defense. | Solenodon paradoxus is described as a "slow mover" and a "clumsy runner with no agility in avoiding enemies and a poor means of defense" |
| It lacks any truly natural predators and has few anti-predator adaptations, but mongooses, cats and dogs, introduced to the island after European colonization, now prey on it. | to this day, it lacks any truly natural predators and does not possess many anti-predator adaptations |
| It lacks any truly natural predators and has few anti-predator adaptations, but mongooses, cats and dogs, introduced to the island after European colonization, now prey on it. | Before the European colonization of Hispanolia, which has resulted in the introduction of several predators of solenodons the island |
| It lacks any truly natural predators and has few anti-predator adaptations, but mongooses, cats and dogs, introduced to the island after European colonization, now prey on it. | Known Predators mongooses (Herpestes) domestic cats (Felis silvestris) domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) |

## Solenodon paradoxus. AnAge: The Animal Ageing and Longevity Database, Human Ageing Genomic Resources.

https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Solenodon_paradoxus

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| AnAge records one captive animal estimated to be 12.1 years old when it died | One specimen was estimated to be 12.1 years old when it died in captivity (note: AnAge is newer than ADW's 11 years 4 months (Nowak 1999)) |

## Kennerley, Turvey & Young (2020). Solenodon paradoxus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T20321A22327218.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2020-3.rlts.t20321a22327218.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Solenodon paradoxus Brandt, 1833, IUCN taxon 20321. (note: stats.conservationStatus; GBIF's copy of the Red List) |
| Clumsy, Social, and Still Surviving | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Solenodon paradoxus Brandt, 1833, IUCN taxon 20321. (note: heading, part 3 (the species survives and is assessed Least Concern)) |
| The IUCN's current assessment, from 2015, rates it Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). Solenodon paradoxus Brandt, 1833, IUCN taxon 20321. (note: assessment year 2015 per the prefetch (Kennerley, Turvey & Young 2015; DOI is the 2020 amended version)) |

## Casewell et al. (2019). Solenodon genome reveals convergent evolution of venom in eulipotyphlan mammals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1906117116

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| An ancient island insectivore whose venom, lab tests suggest, lowers blood pressure but fails to paralyse invertebrates. | These results suggest that solenodon venom exerts a hypotensive effect. (note: tagline, part 1 (hedge kept as 'lab tests suggest')) |
| An ancient island insectivore whose venom, lab tests suggest, lowers blood pressure but fails to paralyse invertebrates. | All animals survived 24 h after the intrathoracic injection of venom (up to 50 µg/g and 100 µg/g, respectively) with no signs of immobilization or incapacitation (note: tagline, part 2; the animals are locusts and centipedes) |
| An ancient island insectivore whose venom, lab tests suggest, lowers blood pressure but fails to paralyse invertebrates. | molecular and fossil evidence suggests that they diverged from all other mammals over 70 million years ago (MYA) (note: tagline, part 3 ('ancient' = the lineage's age)) |
| Millipedes, ground beetles, crickets, earthworms, and snails, plus amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally nestling and ground-dwelling birds | amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally nestlings and ground-dwelling birds (note: stats.diet, vertebrate half; 'occasionally' kept on the birds only, as in the source) |
| Likely the largest living venomous land mammal, delivering venom through a grooved second lower incisor; lab tests suggest it lowers blood pressure. | these enigmatic animals likely being the largest extant venomous terrestrial mammals (note: superpower, part 1; 'living' = extant, 'land' = terrestrial) |
| Likely the largest living venomous land mammal, delivering venom through a grooved second lower incisor; lab tests suggest it lowers blood pressure. | These results suggest that solenodon venom exerts a hypotensive effect. (note: superpower, part 3) |
| Likely the Largest Venomous Land Mammal | these enigmatic animals likely being the largest extant venomous terrestrial mammals (note: heading) |
| A 2019 genome study called solenodons likely the largest living venomous land mammals. | these enigmatic animals likely being the largest extant venomous terrestrial mammals (note: 2019 is the reference's publication year) |
| Molecular and fossil evidence suggests the solenodon lineage split from all other mammals more than 70 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous. | molecular and fossil evidence suggests that they diverged from all other mammals over 70 million years ago (MYA) |
| Molecular and fossil evidence suggests the solenodon lineage split from all other mammals more than 70 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous. | multiple groups of shrews, the solenodons, and possibly other eulipotyphlans have each evolved venom independently following their divergence during the Late Cretaceous Period (note: the solenodon-shrew split is the same event: 'solenodons and shrews, which diverged from one another over 70 MYA') |
| Venom is rare among mammals: it is restricted to four living orders, the monotremes (such as the platypus), bats, primates, and eulipotyphlans | Mammalian venom systems are rare and, based on the definition above, are restricted to members of 4 extant orders: the monotremes, chiropterans, primates, and eulipotyphlans (note: chiropterans = bats) |
| the monotremes (such as the platypus) | male–male combat to facilitate breeding (platypus; Ornithorhynchus anatinus) |
| the group of shrews, hedgehogs, moles and solenodons | eulipotyphlan mammals (shrews, hedgehogs, moles, and solenodons) (note: eulipotyphlans glossed; the paper also discusses hedgehogs and moles as eulipotyphlans) |
| A Venom That Seems to Lower Blood Pressure | These results suggest that solenodon venom exerts a hypotensive effect. (note: heading; 'seems to' keeps 'suggest') |
| A solenodon makes venom in glands beneath its lower jaw and delivers it through an enlarged, grooved second lower incisor. | All of the extant venomous eulipotyphlans produce venom in submaxillary glands (note: submaxillary = beneath the lower jaw) |
| A solenodon makes venom in glands beneath its lower jaw and delivers it through an enlarged, grooved second lower incisor. | its enlarged tubular lower second incisor used for venom delivery |
| When researchers analysed venom from two wild males | Venom was collected from 2 wild male adult Hispaniolan solenodons |
| kallikrein serine proteases were its most numerous and abundant proteins | kallikrein serine proteases as the most numerous and abundant proteins found in the venom |
| their tests suggest the venom has a hypotensive effect, lowering blood pressure | These results suggest that solenodon venom exerts a hypotensive effect. |
| Injected into anesthetized rats at 1 milligram per kilogram, it caused a transient drop in mean arterial pressure, peaking at 22 percent below baseline. | solenodon venom (1 mg/kg; n = 5) caused a marked depressor effect on the mean arterial pressure of anesthetized rats, consisting of a transient depressor response and resulting in a maximal decrease of 22% (±6%) from baseline readings |
| At up to 50 µg/mL, the venom had no effect on human muscle-type or locust acetylcholine receptors, which venoms commonly target to cause paralysis. | Solenodon venom exhibited no activity on either human muscle type or locust nAChRs at concentrations up to 50 µg/mL (note: blockquote part 1) |
| At up to 50 µg/mL, the venom had no effect on human muscle-type or locust acetylcholine receptors, which venoms commonly target to cause paralysis. | both of which are ion channels commonly targeted by venoms to cause immobilization via neuromuscular paralysis (note: blockquote part 1) |
| It subtly inhibited mammalian sodium channels, yet locusts and centipedes injected with it showed no sign of immobilization. | but did display subtle, but significant, inhibitory activity at mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) (note: blockquote part 2) |
| It subtly inhibited mammalian sodium channels, yet locusts and centipedes injected with it showed no sign of immobilization. | this was not apparent in in vivo toxicity studies using locusts (Schistocerca gregaria, n = 4) and centipedes (Ethmostigmus rubripes, n = 5) (note: blockquote part 2) |
| It subtly inhibited mammalian sodium channels, yet locusts and centipedes injected with it showed no sign of immobilization. | with no signs of immobilization or incapacitation (note: blockquote part 2) |
| The researchers concluded the venom is unlikely to paralyse invertebrates for storage, unlike that of Blarina shrews. | we conclude from these data that solenodon venom is unlikely to function to paralyze invertebrates for prey storage, unlike that of Blarina shrews |
| They judged it most likely evolved for catching prey, in parallel with venomous shrews | It appears most likely that the solenodon venom system evolved for capturing prey, in a manner analogous to, and in parallel with, venomous shrews |
| suggested it may first have evolved for vertebrate prey and now be partly a relic, after many of the region's native vertebrates went extinct | it is also possible that the solenodon venom system initially evolved for capturing vertebrate prey, and is now at least partly relictual due to the extinction of considerable amounts of regionally endemic vertebrate biodiversity |
| Solenodons are nocturnal. | Solenodons are relatively large (∼1 kg) nocturnal eulipotyphlans |
| In 64 droppings collected in the Dominican Republic, DNA tests found vertebrate prey in 12.3 percent. | we assessed their dietary composition using a vertebrate DNA barcoding approach on 64 fecal samples collected during the dry and rainy seasons in Pedernales Province, Dominican Republic |
| In 64 droppings collected in the Dominican Republic, DNA tests found vertebrate prey in 12.3 percent. | Our conservative “frequency of occurrence” approach detected evidence of vertebrate prey in 12.3% of the fecal samples analyzed |
| Solenodons feed predominately on invertebrates, but this fits natural history reports of them eating amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally nestlings and ground-dwelling birds. | while solenodons feed predominately on invertebrates ( 54 ), vertebrate prey make up a considerable proportion of their diet. These findings are in line with a number of natural history reports describing solenodons feeding on amphibians, reptiles, and occasionally nestlings and ground-dwelling birds |
| Clumsy, Social, and Still Surviving | solenodons are relatively social animals (note: heading, part 2) |
| Solenodons are relatively social: both living species live in family groups of adults, subadults and young. | solenodons are relatively social animals; both species live in family groups comprising adults, subadults, and young (note: both species = S. paradoxus and A. cubana, the two extant solenodons) |
| Apparently not, at least for the invertebrates tested. Locusts and centipedes injected with solenodon venom all survived 24 hours with no signs of immobilization or incapacitation, so the researchers concluded it is unlikely to paralyse invertebrates for storage. | All animals survived 24 h after the intrathoracic injection of venom (up to 50 µg/g and 100 µg/g, respectively) with no signs of immobilization or incapacitation (note: FAQ 1) |
| so the researchers concluded it is unlikely to paralyse invertebrates for storage | we conclude from these data that solenodon venom is unlikely to function to paralyze invertebrates for prey storage (note: FAQ 1) |
| In anesthetized rats, the venom instead caused a transient fall in blood pressure. | caused a marked depressor effect on the mean arterial pressure of anesthetized rats, consisting of a transient depressor response (note: FAQ 1) |
| Very old, by the evidence a 2019 genome study cites: solenodons likely diverged from all other mammals over 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. | molecular and fossil evidence suggests that they diverged from all other mammals over 70 million years ago (MYA) (note: FAQ 2; the paper cites ref 19 for this, so the page says 'cites'; 'likely' keeps 'suggests'; 'Very old' is the answer this sentence supports) |
| Very old, by the evidence a 2019 genome study cites: solenodons likely diverged from all other mammals over 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous. | following their divergence during the Late Cretaceous Period (note: FAQ 2) |
| The same study found convincing evidence that solenodons and shrews evolved their venom independently. | analyses provide convincing evidence that the oral venom systems of solenodons and shrews have evolved convergently (note: FAQ 2) |
| The Paralysis Test | to test for the potential presence of neurotoxic venom activity, we assessed the activity of solenodon venom on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and voltage gated sodium channels (note: blockquote lead-in, a label for the test described) |

## Mychajliw et al. (2022). Stable isotopes reveal seasonal dietary responses to agroforestry in a venomous mammal, the Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodon paradoxus). Ecology and Evolution.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8761

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| An ancient island insectivore whose venom, lab tests suggest, lowers blood pressure but fails to paralyse invertebrates. | solenodons, as generalist insectivores (note: tagline, part 4 (insectivore)) |
| Forests, brushy woodland, and agricultural mosaics on the island of Hispaniola, sheltering by day in burrows, hollow logs, and caves | occupies a mosaic landscape of agriculture and forest fragments in the western Dominican Republic (note: stats.habitat, part 2) |
| A 2022 study of droppings from pasture and agroforestry sites in the western Dominican Republic suggests these generalist insectivores find prey across different kinds of vegetation and can persist in agroforestry land outside protected areas. | Using feces collected in both wet and dry seasons, we found significant differences in the stable isotope values of carbon (δ 13 C) between pasture (−24.63 ± 2.31‰, Las Mercedes) and agroforestry (−28.07 ± 2.10‰, Mencia) |
| A 2022 study of droppings from pasture and agroforestry sites in the western Dominican Republic suggests these generalist insectivores find prey across different kinds of vegetation and can persist in agroforestry land outside protected areas. | occupies a mosaic landscape of agriculture and forest fragments in the western Dominican Republic |
| A 2022 study of droppings from pasture and agroforestry sites in the western Dominican Republic suggests these generalist insectivores find prey across different kinds of vegetation and can persist in agroforestry land outside protected areas. | solenodons, as generalist insectivores, can find suitable insects and other prey items (e.g., millipedes, snails, and spiders) in different vegetation contexts, suggesting that they can persist in agroforestry spaces outside of protected areas based on their ecology alone (note: 2022 is the reference's publication year) |

## Turvey, Meredith & Scofield (2008). Continued survival of Hispaniolan solenodon Solenodon paradoxus in Haiti. Oryx.

https://doi.org/10.1017/s0030605308001324

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| The 2007 IUCN Red List rated the species Endangered | is currently categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2007) (note: dated: the 2007 listing, superseded by the current Least Concern assessment) |
| earlier studies had predicted its likely extinction in Haiti by the start of the 21st century | Previous studies have been pessimistic about the probability of even short-term survival of this relict population, predicting its likely extinction by the start of the 21st century (note: 'this relict population' is the Haitian one) |
| In April 2007, local people brought researchers the remains of three dead solenodons, confirming it survived there. | continued survival of the species in Haiti was confirmed when the remains of three dead solenodons were brought to us in Duchity over 23–25 April 2007 as a result of local interest in our survey |
| Its survival there was in doubt. | Previous studies have been pessimistic about the probability of even short-term survival of this relict population (note: FAQ 3) |
| Earlier studies had predicted its likely extinction in Haiti by the start of the 21st century | predicting its likely extinction by the start of the 21st century (note: FAQ 3) |
| there had been no targeted mammal conservation research in the country for almost two decades | Given the lack of any targeted mammal conservation research in Haiti for almost 2 decades (note: FAQ 3) |
| A 2007 survey changed that | We carried out an 11-day survey to investigate the status of Hispaniolan solenodons in the Duchity region of the Massif de la Hotte in April 2007 (note: FAQ 3) |
| sign surveys, interviews with villagers and farmers, and three dead solenodons confirmed it still survived in the Duchity region of the Massif de la Hotte, apparently across a wider area than previously recognized | new surveys (sign surveys and interviews with villagers and subsistence farmers) and the discovery of three dead solenodons confirm the continued survival of the species in the Duchity region, apparently across a greater geographic area than previously recognized (note: FAQ 3) |
| in the Duchity region of the Massif de la Hotte | has only been recorded from the Duchity region of the Massif de la Hotte in recent decades (note: FAQ 3) |