£ INSECTIVORA 



Anterior lower incisor not elongated in axis of jaw ; 

 mandibular articulation single (normal) ; zygoma 

 present ; floor of brain-case bony throughout ; a 

 small auditory bulla ; general form not mouse- 

 like, the neck concealed between the greatly 

 enlarged shoulders ; no external ear (Moles and 



Desmans) Talpidse, p. 2. 



Teeth in front of molars sharply differentiated by 

 form into incisors, canines and premolars, the 

 upper incisors small, sub-equal ; front feet 

 highly modified for burrowing, the palms 

 everted ; tail scarcely as long as head (Moles) Talpinte, p. 2. 

 Teeth in front of molars not differentiated by 

 form into incisors, canines and premolars, the 

 inner upper incisor greatly enlarged, vertical, 

 trenchant ; front feet not modified for burrow- 

 ing (habits aquatic), the palms in normal 

 position ; tail (in European members of the 

 group) longer than head and body (Desmans) Desmaninx, p. 20. 



Family TALPIDEE. 



1825. Talpidse Gray, Thomson's Annals of Philosophy, xxvi, p. 339. 



Geographical distribution. — North temperate portions of Old 

 and New Worlds ; in Europe south to the Mediterranean coast 

 and west to England. 



Characters. — Skull long and narrow, strongly tapering an- 

 teriorly, most of its sutures disappearing early in life ; zygomatic 

 arch complete, slender ; floor of brain-case completely ossified ; 

 tympanic bone attached to skull, forming a flattened bulla ; 

 mandible with single articulation, the glenoid surface normal ; 

 no external pterygoid plate ; crowns of upper molars low, much 

 narrower internally than externally, the paracone and metacone 

 near middle of crown, the commissures and styles well developed 

 and forming with corresponding portions of lower teeth an 

 effective cutting apparatus ; body heavy, cylindrical, the short 

 neck concealed between the greatly developed shoulders ; eye 

 minute, often covered by the integument ; snout much elongated, 

 terete or depressed ; no external ear. 



Remarks. — The members of the family Talpidse are at once 

 recognizable among European mammals by the great development 

 of the shoulder girdle and apparent absence of neck, the auditory 

 orifice seeming to lie at the shoulder. Though excessively modified 

 in general form the Talpidse are much less specialized than the 

 Soricidse in the more fundamental characters of skull and teeth. 

 The family is divisible into several very distinct groups or sub- 

 families, two of which are represented in Europe. In one of 

 these the animals are specially adapted to subterranean habits ; 

 in the other they are modified for aquatic life. 



Sub-Family TALPINTE. 



Geographical distribution. — Temperate portions of Europe and 

 Asia, from England to Japan : in Europe south to the Mediter- 

 ranean coast. 



