INSECTIVORA. 717 



limbs are stretched out behind, and the strange jumping move- 

 ments on land are effected by the trunk, sometimes helped by 

 the fore-limbs. The palms and soles are hairy. There are well- 

 developed canines, the upper incisors have pointed crowns, there 



are - back teeth. There is no external ear. The testes are 



5 

 abdominal. 



3 I 4 I 



The common seal (Phoca). ; the grey seal (Halich<xrus\ 



2141 



the monk seal (Monachus), the large elephant seal (Macrorhinus 

 leoninus}. 



Sub-Order CREODONTA (extinct). 



In Eocene and early Miocene strata, in Europe and America, there 

 are remains of what seem to be generalised Carnivora, ancestral to the 

 modern types, and apparently related to Insectivora as well. Those 

 included in the sub-order Creodonta have strong canines but no single 

 carnassials, while the molars are often like those of Marsupials. The 

 brain seems to have been small. 



Examples : Hycenodon, Pterodon^ Proviverra^ Arctocyon. 



Order 7. INSECTIVORA. 



This order includes hedgehog, mole, shrews, and related 

 mammals. There is much diversity of type, so that a state- 

 ment of general characters is very difficult. 



Most Insectivores run about on the earth; the mole 

 ( Talpa), and others like it, are burrowers ; Potamogale, 

 Myogale, and others are aquatic : Tupaia and its relatives 

 live like squirrels among the branches; and the aberrant 

 " flying Lemur" Galeopithecus takes swoops from tree to 

 tree. 



Most feed on Insects, but Galeopithecus and some other 

 arboreal forms eat leaves as well, the moles eat worms, 

 Potamogale is said to feed on fish. 



The body is usually covered with soft fur, but the hedge- 

 hog (Erinaceus) is spiny, and so to a less extent is Centetes, 

 the groundhog of Madagascar. The digits, usually five in 

 number, are clawed, and the animals walk in plantigrade 

 or semi-plantigrade fashion. In most, the mammae are 

 thoracic or abdominal ; in Galeopithecus ', there are two pairs 

 in the axillary region. 



The cranial cavity is small ; the skull is never high ; the 

 facial region is long; the zygomatic arch is slender or 

 absent. Except in Potamogale, there are clavicles. 



