CLASS I. MAMMALIA: ORDER 4. INSECTIVORA. 



137 



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ORDER 4. INSECTIVORA. 



Tlie order of Insectivora, or Insect-Eaters, in- 

 cludes several families, as follows : the Tupaia, 

 the Hedgehog or Erinaceus, the Gymnure, the 

 Tanrec, the Elephant-mouse or Macroscelide, the 

 Mhynchocyon, the Shrew or Sorex, the Soleno- 

 donte, the Desman or Mygale, the Chrysoclore, the 

 J/b/e or Talpa, the Scalops, and the Condylure. 



The Insectivorous Mammalia, some of which 

 are of exceedingly curious structure and habits, 

 are readily distinguished from the Carnivora, with 

 which, however, they are nearly allied, by the 

 structure of their teeth. The skull is slighter 

 and more elongated, the bones of the face and 

 jaws being usually, produced so as to form a 

 muzzle of considerable length ; the jaws are gen- 

 erally inferior in strength to those of the Car- 

 nivora. The form of the body, its clothing, and 

 the development of the tail, vary considerably, 

 but the leafs are always short, so that the belly of 

 the animal is raised but little above the ground ; 

 the feet are plantigrade, and generally furnished 

 with five toes, of which the innermost is never 



opposable. The animals usually run upon the ground, sometimes dig beneath its surface, and 

 'sometimes ascend trees. An important distinction between them and the Carnivora is furnished 

 ^by their possession of complete clavicles, which are always wanting or rudimentary in the latter. 



The mammae are generally numerous, and always situated on the belly. , 



In the development of the brain and organs of the senses, they closely resemble the Rodentia, 



and this similarity is also frequently recognizable in their external form ; so close is it, in fact, 



that many members of the present order are popularly confounded with the Rodentia, and the 

 Vol. I.— 18 



HEAD OF PETItODROME. (See p. 142.) 



