1. Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, Basic Research Program, SAIC-Frederick and
2. Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, National Cancer Institute, Frederick, Maryland 21702, USA
3. Centro de Biologia Genômica e Molecular, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, Brazil
4. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5005, Australia
5. Parque Zoologico Nacional, ZOODOM, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
6. Department of Biology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA
7. These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence to: Alfred L. Roca^1,7Stephen J. O'Brien²William J. Murphy¹ Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to A.L.R. (Email: roca@ncifcrf.gov), S.J.O'B. (Email: obrien@ncifcrf.gov) or W.J.M. (Email: murphywi@ncifcrf.gov).
The sequences reported in this study are deposited under GenBank accession numbers AY530066–AY530088.

Abstract

The highly endangered solenodons, endemic to Cuba (Solenodon cubanus) and Hispaniola (S. paradoxus), comprise the only two surviving species of West Indian insectivores^{1, 2}. Combined gene sequences (13.9 kilobases) from S. paradoxus established that solenodons diverged from other eulipotyphlan insectivores 76 million years ago in the Cretaceous period, which is consistent with vicariance, though also compatible with dispersal. A sequence of 1.6 kilobases of mitochondrial DNA from S. cubanus indicated a deep divergence of 25 million years versus the congeneric S. paradoxus, which is consistent with vicariant origins as tectonic forces separated Cuba and Hispaniola^{3, 4}. Efforts to prevent extinction of the two surviving solenodon species would conserve an entire lineage as old or older than many mammalian orders.

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