220 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



INSECnVOHA MOLES, SHREWS, TUl'AIAS, HEDGEHOGS. 



In winding up oui' skein of Mammals, as we exi^erienee some diiEculty in disentangling a knot 

 in which the Edentates, Mouotremes, and ilai-supials, are mixed up together, I shall leave that 

 end of the thread, and, seeking out another free end, begin of new, and try to reach the Monotremes 

 on their other side. I shall take the Inscctivora. 



Tlie most intimate relations of the luscctivores are with the Eodents, and I have already re- 

 marked on the repetition of the same tj'pical forms in this oi'der as are met with both in the Rodents 

 and in the Marsupials. The Mice being represented by the Shrews ; the Jerboas by the Ma- 

 CROSCELIDES ; the Squirrels by the Tupaias ; and the Porcupines by the Hedgehogs. 



The most noteworthy point in their distribution is, that they are not found at all in South 

 America nor in Australia. One genus, of difficult location, Solenodon, is found in Cuba and St. 

 Domingo ; and the North American Shrews descend into Mexico ; but no animal belonging to this 

 order has yet been found in either of the Marsupial countries. It has been suggested that perhaps 

 the presence of the one (the Marsupials) doing insectivorous duty may have something to do with 

 the absence of the other by whom that work is usually performed elsewhere, but I do not look upon 

 this as more than a coincidence. Tlie real cause is to be sought for in their derivation, and it seems 

 not an unreasonable inference, that their original starting-point or sj)ecific centre must be looked for 

 in other lands than these, and probably at a distance from them ; and neither their insectivorous 

 function, nor the analogy of some of their forms to Marsupial types, ought to militate against this ; 

 for it is to bo observed that there is no poiut of resemblance which can be traced between them and 

 some of the Insectivorous Marsupials, such as between the Shrews and the Amtechtnt. tlie Macuosce- 

 LiDES and the Phascogales or Perameles, which does not also occur in the Rodents in a more 

 marked degree. Thus, if there is a similarity between a Shrew and an Antechi>"us, the 

 resemblance is still greater between the Mouse and the Axtechixus (sec Frontispiece) ; and the 

 same with any others showing indications of resemblance. The Rodent steps in between the Mar- 

 sujjial and the Insecti\ore, in every instance of siniilarif}', and can show greater resemblance to 

 both than either can to the other. To the Rodents then we must look for the derivation of the 

 Inscctivora, in preference, at least, to the Marsupials. 



Small as the Inscctivora are, their remains form a very important chapter, if not in Fala- 

 ontology, at least in PaliDontological literature. We have already seen that tlie first traces of 

 JIamnials found by geologists belonged to the insectivorous Marsupials ; but remains which have 

 been referred by some to the true Inscctivora have also been found at a very early date, — as, for 

 example, the Steueogn.^tiu s, irnni the Stonesfield beds, which is claimed by some for this order, 



