Order ix. Insectivora, The Insectivores. 



G. E. Dobson, Monograph of the Inscctirora, 1882. 



G. E. Dobson, Synopsis of the Soricidce, 1890. 



C. H. Merriam, Rei'ision of the American Genera Blarina and 

 Xotiosorcx and Synopsis of the American Shrews of the Genus Sorex. 

 N. Am. Faun., No. 10, 1895. 



G. S. Miller, The Long-tailed Shrews of the Eastern United States. 

 N. Am. Faun., No. 10, 1895. 



The Order Insectivora comprises a number of mammals mostly 

 quite small, with the muzzle projecting considerably beyond the 

 end of the lower jaw, the majority of which are terrestrial, some 

 aquatic, and others arboreal, with one genus (Galeopithecus of the 

 Malay Peninsula and islands of the eastern Archipelago), containing 

 two species, that have the ability to voyage through the air for 

 brief distances by means of a membrane stretched between the limbs 

 and body and which bears them up like a parachute, after the manner 

 of the Flying Squirrels. The Order is represented in the temperate 

 portions of the Old and the New World save in South America and 

 Australia, and with the exception of the members of one family, 

 all are nocturnal. The exception is the Tupaiidae, containing the 

 Tree-shrews, which, as their trivial name implies, are arboreal crea- 

 tures, very like squirrels in appearance and in many of their ways, 

 and there are instances where some of them mimic the general dress 

 of a certain species of squirrel so closely, that it is impossible to 

 distinguish one from the other unless on a near inspection. As 

 indicated by the name bestowed upon these creatures, Insectivorous 

 Mammals, they subsist upon insects mainly, though Potomogalc 

 vclox from West Africa is admirably formed for an aquatic life, and 

 is said to live on fish, while the chief diet of moles is earth worms. 

 Fruits at times are also eaten by them, and flesh when they can get 

 it. Glands giving forth a noxious odor exist in many of the species, 

 and these probably are a means of protection. In American shrews 

 these glands are placed usually on the sides of the body, but mem- 

 bers of some of the foreign genera have anal pouches which discharge 

 their secretion through ducts. While usually possessing a furry coat, 

 some species of the Order are protected by spines, which like miniature 

 quills of the Porcupine are short and pointed, and when danger ap- 

 proaches the animal rolls itself into a ball leaving no soft part visible, the 

 menacing spines standing out in all directions. The teeth are peculiar, 

 and in numerous species the canines, incisors and nearest premolars 



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