xxv] 



1NSECTIVOKA 



673 



Insectivora. There is therefore really good ground for supposing 

 that the living Insectivora, though modified in special details, never- 

 theless represent, so far as their general organisation is concerned, the 

 earliest type of Eutheria which appeared on the globe. From these 

 original Insectivores advance seems to have taken place along four 

 lines : (I) some Insectivora took to attacking larger prey, including 

 their own less fortunate relatives, and gradually developed into the 

 Carnivora or flesh-eating Mammals: (II) some became vegetable 



FIG. 337. Eussian Desman, Myogale moschata. 



feeders and gave rise to the great group of hoofed animals, relying 

 either on their swiftness or on their size and strength for defence: 

 (III) some took to burrowing and developed into gnawers or Rodents, 

 relying chiefly on their burrows for safety : (IV) some took to climbing 

 trees when hard pressed, and of these some (a) developed the power 

 of leaping from tree to tree into the power of flying, the fore-limb 

 becoming changed into a wing; these are the Bats; the rest 

 (6) remained purely tree dwellers, and eventually gave rise to the 

 great group of the Primates which includes Monkey and Man. 



S. &M. 



