Insectivora
Encyclopedia
Order (biology)
In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...
Insectivora (from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
insectum "insect" and vorare "to eat") is a now-abandoned biological grouping within the class of mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s. Some species have now been moved out leaving the remaining ones in order Eulipotyphla, within the larger clade Laurasiatheria
Laurasiatheria
Laurasiatheria is a large group of placental mammals believed to have originated on the northern supercontinent of Laurasia. It includes shrews, hedgehogs, pangolins, bats, whales, most hoofed mammals, and carnivorans, among others....
, which makes up one of the most basic clades of placental mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s.
History
In the past, the grouping was used as a scrapbasket for a variety of small to very small, relatively unspecialised, insectivorous mammals. Since any primitive-looking fossil groups of placental mammals were commonly assigned to this order for convenience, it was held to constitute the basal stock out of which other placental orders had evolved. Therefore, at its widest extent, the order Insectivora represented an evolutionary gradeEvolutionary grade
In alpha taxonomy, a grade refers to a taxon united by a level of morphological or physiological complexity. The term was coined by British biologist Julian Huxley, to contrast with clade, a strictly phylogenetic unit.-Definition:...
rather than a clade
Clade
A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...
.
Taxonomy
The taxonomyAlpha taxonomy
Alpha taxonomy is the discipline concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. This field is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include natural history museums, herbaria and...
has been refined in recent years, and treeshrew
Treeshrew
The treeshrews are small mammals native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. They make up the families Tupaiidae, the treeshrews, and Ptilocercidae, the pen-tailed treeshrews, and the entire order Scandentia. There are 20 species in 5 genera...
s, elephant shrew
Elephant shrew
Elephant shrews or jumping shrews are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea...
s, and colugo
Colugo
Colugos are arboreal gliding mammals found in South-east Asia. There are just two extant species, which make up the entire family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera. They are the most capable of all gliding mammals, using flaps of extra skin between their legs to glide from higher to lower...
s have now been placed in separate orders, as have many fossil groups that were formerly included here. For some time it was held that the remaining insectivoran families constituted a monophyletic grouping, or clade, to which the name Lipotyphla had long been applied. However, molecular evidence indicated that Chrysochloridae (golden mole
Golden mole
Golden moles are small, insectivorous burrowing mammals native to southern Africa. They form the family Chrysochloridae, and are taxonomically distinct from the true moles which they resemble due to convergence...
s) and Tenrecidae (tenrecs) also should be separated as a new order Afrosoricida
Afrosoricida
The order Afrosoricida contains the golden moles of southern Africa and the tenrecs of Madagascar and Africa, two families of small mammals that have traditionally been considered to be a part of the order Insectivora.Some biologists use Tenrecomorpha as the name for the tenrec-golden mole clade,...
.
Erinaceidae (hedgehog
Hedgehog
A hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
s) was then also split off into a separate order (Erinaceomorpha) from the remainder (termed Soricomorpha
Soricomorpha
The order Soricomorpha is taxon within the class of mammals. In previous years it formed a significant group within the former order Insectivora...
), comprising the families Soricidae (shrews), Talpidae (moles
Mole (animal)
Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
), Solenodontidae and Nesophontidae. These two orders then replaced Insectivora. This scheme was undermined when molecular studies indicated that Soricomorpha is paraphyletic, because Soricidae shared a more recent common ancestor with Erinaceidae than with other soricomorphs.
However, the combination of Soricidae and Erinaceidae, referred to as order Eulipotyphla, has been shown to be monophyletic.
Classification
- ORDER EULIPOTYPHLA (= 'Insectivora')
- Family ErinaceidaeErinaceidaeErinaceidae is the only living family in the order Erinaceomorpha, which has recently been subsumed with Soricomorpha into the order Eulipotyphla...
- Subfamily Erinaceinae: hedgehogHedgehogA hedgehog is any of the spiny mammals of the subfamily Erinaceinae and the order Erinaceomorpha. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera, found through parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, and New Zealand . There are no hedgehogs native to Australia, and no living species native to the Americas...
s - Subfamily Hylomyinae: moonratsGymnureThe gymnure, also called a hairy hedgehog or moonrat, is a type of mammal belonging to the subfamily Galericinae, in the family Erinaceidae and the order Erinaceomorpha...
and gymnureGymnureThe gymnure, also called a hairy hedgehog or moonrat, is a type of mammal belonging to the subfamily Galericinae, in the family Erinaceidae and the order Erinaceomorpha...
s
- Subfamily Erinaceinae: hedgehog
- Family Soricidae
- Subfamily Crocidurinae: white-toothed shrewWhite-toothed shrewThe white-toothed shrews or Crocidurinae are one of three subfamilies of the shrew family Soricidae.Unlike the red-toothed shrews, the outer layer of their teeth is white. These species are typically found in Africa and southern Europe and Asia...
s - Subfamily Soricinae: red-toothed shrewRed-toothed shrewThe red-toothed shrews of the subfamily Soricinae are one of three living subfamilies of shrews, along with Crocidurinae and Myosoricinae . In addition, the family contains the extinct subfamilies Limnoecinae, Crocidosoricinae, Allosoricinae and Heterosoricinae...
s - Subfamily Myosoricinae: African white-toothed shrews
- Subfamily Crocidurinae: white-toothed shrew
- Family TalpidaeTalpidaeThe family Talpidae includes the moles, shrew moles, desmans, and other intermediate forms of small insectivorous mammals of the order Soricomorpha...
- Subfamily Desmaninae: desmanDesmanThe desmans or tribe Desmanini are one of several tribes of the mole family Talpidae.This tribe consists of two species of semiaquatic insectivores found in Europe; one in Russia and the other in the Pyrenees. Both species are considered to be vulnerable...
s - Subfamily Talpinae: molesMole (animal)Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...
- Subfamily UropsilinaeUropsilinaeThe Uropsilinae are shrew-like members of the mole family endemic to the forested, high-alpine region bordering China, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They possess a long snout, a long slender tail, external ears, and small forefeet unspecialized for burrowing...
: shrew moles
- Subfamily Desmaninae: desman
- Family SolenodontidaeSolenodontidaeSolenodons are venomous, nocturnal, burrowing, insectivorous mammals belonging to the family Solenodontidae. Only one genus, Solenodon, is known, although a few other genera were erected at one time and are now regarded as junior synonyms...
: solenodons - Family Nesophontidae: extinct West Indian shrews
- Family Erinaceidae
Family-level cladogram of extant insectivoran relationships, following Roca et al.:
These families have been placed within Insectivora in the past:
- Family Chrysochloridae (golden moleGolden moleGolden moles are small, insectivorous burrowing mammals native to southern Africa. They form the family Chrysochloridae, and are taxonomically distinct from the true moles which they resemble due to convergence...
s) - Family TenrecidaeTenrecidaeTenrecidae is a family of mammals found on Madagascar and parts of Africa. Tenrecs are widely diverse, resembling hedgehogs, shrews, opossums, mice and even otters, as a result of convergent evolution. They occupy aquatic, arboreal, terrestrial and fossorial environments...
(tenrecs) - Family Macroscelididae (elephant shrewElephant shrewElephant shrews or jumping shrews are small insectivorous mammals native to Africa, belonging to the family Macroscelididae, in the order Macroscelidea...
s) - Family TupaiidaeTupaiidaeTupaiidae is one of two families of treeshrews, the other family being Ptilocercidae. It contains 4 genera and 19 species.-Taxonomy:*Order: Scandentia** Family Tupaiidae*** Genus Anathana**** Madras Treeshrew, Anathana ellioti...
(treeshrewTreeshrewThe treeshrews are small mammals native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. They make up the families Tupaiidae, the treeshrews, and Ptilocercidae, the pen-tailed treeshrews, and the entire order Scandentia. There are 20 species in 5 genera...
s) - Family Cynocephalidae (colugoColugoColugos are arboreal gliding mammals found in South-east Asia. There are just two extant species, which make up the entire family Cynocephalidae and order Dermoptera. They are the most capable of all gliding mammals, using flaps of extra skin between their legs to glide from higher to lower...
s)
Not to be confused with insectivore
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
s (the eaters of insects considered as a feeding behavior), many of which do not belong to Eulipotyphla or the other taxa formerly included within Insectivora.