Order IX. Insectivora. The Insectivores. 
G. E. Dobson, Monograph of the Insectivora, 1882. 
G. E. Dobson, Synopsis of the Soricide, 1890. 
C. H. Merriam, Revision of the American Genera Blarina and 
Notiosorex 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 Untted 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 Tupaiide, 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 Potomogale 
velox 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 numefous species the canines, incisors and nearest premolars 
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