Capromys pilorides (Say, 1822) . Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 2:333.
TYPE LOCALITY: "South America or one of the West Indian islands."
DISTRIBUTION: Mainland Cuba, Isle of Youth, ArchipiƩlago de las Doce Legunas, ArchipiƩlago de Sabana, and many other islands and cays in the Cuban archipelago.
STATUS: Common (extremely abundant in some areas, including Guantanamo Bay Naval Base).
SYNONYMS: acevedo, doceleguas, gundlachianus, intermedius, pilorides, relictus.
COMMENTS: The first mention of this species name is as Mus pilorides Pallas 1778, however, Tate (1935:309) noted that it is not associated with this genus. Sometimes placed in the subgenus Capromys; see Hall (1981:863). This species is very variable in size, coloration, and habits. There are four named subspecies (doceleguas, gundlachianus, pilorides, and relictus; see Varona, 1983a:77), and one new subspecies currently being described from the south of the Isle of Youth (Borroto and Camacho, in litt.). Macrocapromys acevedo described by Arredondo (1958:10) is not distinct at the generic level, and is probably synonymous with pilorides.