Orver INSECTIVORA. 
INSECT EATERS. 
Representatives of this large order are found throughout the greater 
portion of the temperate and tropical world, except, so far as known, in 
Australia and South America. All of its members are comparatively 
small animals. The greater number are terrestrial, although a few 
are arboreal and others natatorial. They are nearly all of them noc- 
turnal animals; some are covered with spines, but the majority are 
thickly furred. They are largely, but by no means strictly, insectiv- 
orous; most of our species eat great numbers of earth-worms and young 
Mice when they can get them; while some species, like the European 
Hedgehog, have such a varied diet as to be practically omnivorous. 
While in all known species, incisors, canines, premolars and molars 
are present, most of them are not clearly differentiated and for conve- 
nience all single pointed teeth are called unicuspids. The number of 
teeth varies in different species, some having as high as 44. In our 
Shrews belonging to the subfamily Soricine the ends of the teeth are 
colored red, while in the Crocidurine, and Old World subfamily, the 
teeth are entirely white. There seems to be a tendency in many of 
the members of this order towards the disappearance of milk teeth. 
In the species belonging to the genus Sorex, for example, there are but 
seven milk teeth and none of them ever become functional. These 
animals are characterized by having an elongated snout, with the upper 
lip extending considerably beyond the lower; clavicles are present in 
all except the peculiar African genus Potamogale. The position of 
the mammary glands and number of teats vary in different species. 
The uterus is bicornate and the placenta discoidal and deciduous. The 
cecum is absent in our species. The majority possess glands contain- 
ing a strong, disagreeable, musky secretion, which is supposed to be 
a means of protection, as it is claimed carnivorous mammals will 
rarely eat them. The location of these glands varies in different species; 
in our Shrews they are usually located on the sides of the body behind 
the axilla. The toes are armed with claws which in many species are 
highly developed for digging. Shrews do not hibernate and are active 
all winter. 
On the North American continent the order is represented by two 
families: Soricide, Shrews, and Talpide, Moles, comprising more than 
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