INSECT-EATING MAMMALS 



35 



of adaptation to an aquatic life has taken place in the Web-footed 

 Shrew (Nectogale] of Thibet, where the feet are webbed, and the 

 external ear-flap is entirely absent. The laterally-flattened tail 

 is a powerful aid to swimming. These do not exhaust the list 

 of aquatic Insectivores, 

 though the others to be 

 mentioned do not belong 

 to the family of Shrews. 

 They are the Desmans 

 (Myogale), which are in- 

 cluded in the Mole Fa- 

 mily; and the African 

 River -Shrew (Potamo- 

 gale\ which is the type 

 of a special family. 



The Desmans are 

 remarkable web - footed 

 forms, in which the snout 

 is in the form of an elon- 

 gated sensitive proboscis 

 used for grubbing about 

 in holes and corners 



which harbour insect-larvae and other small creatures. The well- 

 developed swimming tail is long, scaly, and flattened from side 

 to side. One species, the Russian Desman (Myogale moschata), 

 which inhabits South-east Russia, attains the length of 16 inches. 

 A smaller species, in which the tail is not flattened, is found in 

 the streams of the Pyrenees. 



The African River -Shrew {Potamogale velox], an inhabitant 

 of the West African rivers, finds its nearest relatives in the 

 Tenrecs, and may be looked upon as the otter of the Insectivores. 

 It is a large form, reaching a length of 22 inches, of which 

 about half is formed by the powerful laterally -flattened tail, by 

 means of which it is enabled to swim with great rapidity. Not 

 unlike a small otter in appearance, it resembles that animal in 

 regard to its food, which consists of fish. 



Some unfamiliar burrowing Insectivores have already been 

 mentioned; the Moles proper and their allies may now be noticed. 

 Certain small species of the Mole Family which have affinities 

 with the Shrews are called on that account Mole-Shrews. The 



Fig. 327. Garden-Shrew (Crocidura aranea) 



