MAMMALIA 377 



generally pentadactyle; molars enamelled, tuberculated, and rooted. 

 They have a primitive brain. There are frequently scales on the 

 tail among the hairs; the clavicle is present; the animals have soft 

 hair, and usually a proboscis-like, tactile snout. 



Feeding almost wholly on insects and worms they are chiefly 

 nocturnal. They are found almost everywhere except in Australia 

 and South America. Evidence from fossils indicates that they are 

 survivors of extremely primitive placental mammals. The eyes are 

 extremely small and in some cases hidden by fur. 



The colugo {kaguan) is a peculiar form, sometimes called the 

 " flying lemur." It is found in trees from Siam to Java with a 

 smaller relative inhabiting the Philippines. It belongs to a sub- 

 order, Dermoptera. Extensions of its furry skin stretched between 

 the fore and hind legs enable it to plane through the air like a flying 

 squirrel. It is about the size of a small cat. 



The shrews {Soricidae) are small, mouse-like animals with 

 pointed heads, external ears and eyes, rat-like feet, slender bodies 

 and a short tail. The common shrew is found on the Atlantic 

 coast, ranging from New England, Southward to North Carolina 

 and Northwestward to Alaska. It is quick of hearing, utterly 

 untameable, and from glands in the axillary region, emits a musky 

 odor, which repels hawks, cats and foxes, but apparently attracts 

 weasels and owls. The water shrew is the largest of the American 

 forms, measuring 6 inches in length, with a tail over 2 inches long. 

 The great musk shrew of India, called the " muskrat " in the Old 

 World, is important as a destroyer of insect vermin. Some of the 

 long-nosed shrews are aquatic, living in bank burrows and swimming 

 and diving with ease. (Figure 212.) 



The short-tailed or " little " shrew {Cryptotis parvd) has a total 

 length of but 3.1 inches and is the smallest American mammal. It 

 is found from the middle West to the Atlantic coast. ^ Shrews eat 

 worms, insects, young birds, but also feed on roots and nuts. Euro- 

 pean superstitions regarding the shrews include such statements 

 as that of Rev. Edward Topsell, who in his rare " Historic of Four- 

 footed Beastes," printed in London in 1607, says of the shrew that 

 " It is a ravening beaste, feigning itself gentle and tame, but, being 

 touched, it biteth deeply and poysoneth deadly. It beareth a cruel 

 minde, desiring to hurt anything, neither is there any creature that 



2 H. E. Anthony. 1928. Field Book of North American Mammals. G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons, N. Y. 



