A Team of UF Researchers Find a Unique Connection Between Humans and the Bahamian Hutia

Meet the Bahamian hutia. A species of rodent that can reach the size of a full-grown rabbit, they just might hold the key to helping us understand the behavior and lifestyles of indigenous humans in the Bahamas.

In a study published in PLOS One, a group of researchers from the University of Florida shares their findings that these hutias were physically moved from their native Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos Islands by the Lucayans, the indigenous people who once called the islands home. The work was conducted by Michelle LeFebvre and William Keegan from the Florida Museum of Natural History, Susan deFrance and John Krigbaum with the Department of Anthropology, and George Kamenov from the Department of Geological Sciences.

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