Although they are somewhat variable in colour, they are typically dusky brown over most of the body, with a paler underside and reddish fur on the sides of the head, throat, and upper chest.

[6] A unique feature is the os proboscidis, a bone extending forward from the nasal opening to support the snout cartilage; this is not found even in other solenodons.

The second lower incisor has a narrow tubular channel that is almost entirely enclosed, through which flows a venomous saliva secreted by the submaxillary gland.

Their habitat is usually undisturbed moist forest below 1,000 m (3,300 ft) elevation, although they are sometimes found at higher altitudes or close to developed agricultural land.

Populations are found both within and outside protected areas such as the Jaragua, Del Este and Sierra de Baoruco National Parks.

Hispaniolan solenodons are nocturnal; during daylight hours, they stay in their burrows, trees, hollowed-out logs or caves, remaining hidden from view.

Their burrows may contain multiple chambers and tunnels and are typically inhabited by an adult pair accompanied by up to six younger family members.

Feral dog and cat populations have become established, and small Asian mongooses (Urva auropunctata) were introduced to control rats in sugar cane fields; all three can potentially prey on solenodons.

The Ornithological Society of Hispaniola showed pictures of the solenodon to the locals in both countries, and few knew what they were due to their nocturnal nature.

A recovery plan for the isolated Haitian population, published in 1992, advocated comprehensive surveys, improved management of the Pic Macaya National Park, education campaigns, control of exotic mammals, and an ex situ breeding programme.

Two conservation research and education programmes funded by the Darwin Initiative have recently been established, focusing on solenodons in both countries: "Building evidence and capacity to conserve Hispaniola's endemic land mammals" (started 2009), and "Building a future for Haiti's unique vertebrates" (started 2010).

In 1981, after extensive searching, the Hispaniolan solenodon was declared "functionally extinct" in Haiti, persisting only in the remote mountains of the south.

Wildlife filmmaker Jürgen Hoppe has been able to film the Hispaniolan solenodon in various parts of the Dominican Republic during the last 18 years.

The most recent sightings in the wild (with video evidence) were during the summer of 2008, when a team of researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Ornithological Society of Hispaniola were able to trap an individual specimen.

[22] Follow up work sequencing the whole genomes of six captured individuals more accurately predicts that solenodons diverged from other extant mammals 73.6 million years ago.

Looking at single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) variation between northern and southern captured individuals enabled the researchers to infer population demography, which supported a likely subspecies split (S. paradoxus woodi the proposed name for the southern subspecies) within the Hispaniolan solenodon at least 300 thousand years ago.