Heptaxodontidae

Heptaxodontidae, the giant hutias, is an extinct family of exceptionally large rodents known from fossil and subfossil remains across the West Indies, including Anguilla, St. Martin, Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Jamaica. The family held five genera and six species; the largest, Amblyrhiza inundata, is estimated to have weighed between 50 and 200 kilograms, twice the weight of the modern capybara. Despite the common name, giant hutias were not closely related to living hutias but are thought to be closer to the chinchillas, and the smallest species, Quemisia gravis, may have survived into the era of early Spanish colonization of the Caribbean.