SYNOPSIS OF INSECTIVOROUS MAMMALS. 



By Theodore Gill. 



PREFATORY. 



The following arrangement of tbe primary and secondary gronps of 

 the order Insectivora has resulted from the study of the relations of the 

 American forms and their comparison with those ofother parts of the world, 

 undertaken partly in continuation of the author's "Arrangement of the 

 Families of Mammals," and partly for a general work on the mammals of 

 North America. Clear ideas respecting the affinities of the forms repre- 

 sented in the several regions of the globe are necessary for the appreciation 

 of the general features of geographical distribution, and any misappre- 

 ciation of such relations may entail very serious errors in our ideas 

 respecting the range of any given type. It is only necessary to refer to 

 the memoirs of Pomel to understand what diverse conclusions may result 

 as to the distribution of the major groujis from the application of differ- 

 ent taxonomic principles. The order Insectivora has been a somewhat 

 favorite one among therologists, and the diversity of opinion respecting 

 the affinities of the various forms has been very great. As several of 

 the naturalists who have most differed from each have almost equally 

 great reputations, recourse was necessary to the original materials to en- 

 able a critical opinion to be entertained respecting their several merits. 

 This examination has led to the conclusions embodied in the following 

 synopsis. The points of agreement with and difference from previous 

 essays may be best exhibited by a partial historical resume, in which only 

 the chief systems need be passed in review. 



HISTORICAL. 



EARLY HISTORY. 



The representatives of this group have been associated with rodents,* on 

 account of similarity of form ; under the name Bestke, with types having 

 an exceptional dentition, at one time by Linnaeus ; and, more generally, with 

 typical carnivores, on account of adaptation by molar and other teeth for 

 carnivority, till Cuvier, in 1816, combined them into a peculiar " family" 

 (the second) of his " Carnassiers," under the name " Insectivores ;" the 

 " Ch^iropteres," " Carnivores," and " Marsupiaux " being co-equal fami- 

 lies. This combination was first recognized as an order by Charles 

 Bonaparte, who gave to it the Linnpean name Bestke. Not long after 

 (in 1837), Bonaparte also separated the order by a great interval from the 

 Carnivora, and combined it with the Bruta or Edentata, the Cheiroptera^ 

 and the Olires, in a major section of placental mammals, which he named 

 Ineducabilia. This innovation, however, was very tardily adopted, al- 



* Deceptive analogies were also found, e. g. Lichtenstein (K. M. H). IJeber die Verwandt- 

 schaft der kleinen (insectenfressenden) Raubthiere mit denNagern. <^Abbandl. K. Akad. 

 Wiss. Berlin, 1831, pp. 345-360. 



