Echimyidae is the family[2] of Neotropical  spiny rats and their fossil relatives.[3] This is the most species-rich family of hystricognath  rodents. It is probably also the most ecologically diverse, with members ranging from fully arboreal to terrestrial to fossorial to semiaquatic habits.[4] They presently exist mainly in South America; three members of the family also range into Central America, and the hutias are found in the West Indies in the Caribbean. Species of the extinct subfamily Heteropsomyinae formerly lived on Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico in the Antilles.