THE INSECTIVORES 



99 



(Fig. 30), a very primitive Hedgehog from Borneo. The food 

 of this animal so far as it is known is insectivorous; beetles, 

 white ants and larvae being its favorite. Quite possibly 

 the diet is more generously omnivorous like that of its 

 European relative. The tooth formula is the same as that of 

 Talpa. The dentition shows unmistakably that the animal leans 

 to the omnivorous rather than to the carnivorous adaptation. 

 The incisors, canines and premolars, though small are typ- 



Fig. 30. — Dentition of Lesser Gymnura (Hylomys suilla dorsalis, 9.330-4). This 

 animal retains many insectivorous features in its dentition which is adapted for an 

 omnivorous diet. 



ically insectivorous. The lower incisors are procumbent but 

 the median uppers show neither this feature nor approxima- 

 tion of their tips. In each jaw the last premolar is very large 

 and sectorial. It is the molars however to which attention is 

 most decidedly attracted. Through reduction of the styles and 

 the appearance of a hypocone-bearing heel the upper molars 

 have become quadricuspid. The hypocone is well developed in 

 the first and second but is absent in the third tooth, its place 



