ORDER INSECTIVORASYNONYMOUS TO

ORDER EULIPOTPHYLA

DIVIDED INTO

ORDER ERINACEOMORPHA + ORDER SORICOMORPHA

(HEDGEHOGS) (MOLES, SHREWS, SOLENODONS)

INSECTIVORA

Subsist on a diet of insects, worms, and other small invertebrates

Relatively abundant in the past; represented today by a few survivors

Moles, shrews, hedgehogs – represent examples of convergent feeding strategies

-burrowers and diggers

-hunt for insects living in soil and in organic matter that sits atop the soil

Insectivores vary greatly in appearance. They typically have a long snout, as evidenced by most moles, shrews, and solenodons. Some are covered in a mouse-like fur with a hairy, smooth tail, others are covered in spines and lack tails entirely.

Most insectivores have an excellent sense of smell, touch, and hearing, but have a poor sense of sight. They live in a wide variety of habitats, from streams to open meadows to deep underground.

PRIMITIVE TRAITS OF INSECTIVORES

FLAT-FOOTED (PLANTIGRADE) STANCE

FIVE TOES

SMOOTH CEREBRAL HEMISPHERES

SMALL SHARP POINTED TEETH WITH INCISORS, CANINES, AND PREMOLARS POORLY DIFFERENTIATED

PRIMITIVE INTERNAL FEATURES

Most insectivores lack a separate opening for the genitals and anus, and instead have a cloaca, which serves as the genital, urinary, and fecal system.

Large embryonic allantois and yolk sac

In some genera, testes are retained in the abdominal cavity

HEDGEHOG (ERINACEOMORPHA)

MOLES (SORICOMORPHA)

SHREWS (SORICOMORPHA)

SOLENODONS (SORICOMORPHA)