THE INSECTIVORA. 
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seldom or never rise into the air, and the larvae of those which are aerial in their perfect state are of 
necessity confined to the ground or the vegetation growing on it ; these are not without their 
SKELETON OF SHREW 
Mammalian enemies. Many Mammals of the Carnivorous and Marsupial orders feed wholly or partially 
upon insects ; hut there is one order most of the species of which are exclusively, or almost exclusively, 
confined to a diet of terrestrial insects, worms and “ such small deer,” and which has consequently 
received the name of Insect ivora, or “the insect-eaters.” On trees, on the ground, and even beneath 
its surface, and in the water, these animals chase insects and their larva ; and if they diversify their 
diet with worms and other invertebrates, or by attacking and devouring frogs, fishes, and small 
birds and Mammalia, or even in some cases feed chiefly upon such 
articles, or on fruit, the predominating taste for insects among the 
members of the order may justify the name. 
The Insectivora are in many respects related to the Bats, and in 
some cases show a sort of affinity to the lower Quadrumana. In appear- 
ance many of them show analogy to different families of Bodents, or 
gnawing Mammals, the Shrews especially being exceedingly mouse-like 
in their aspect ; but, as might be expected from the difference in the 
habits, and especially in the diet of the animals, the simple inspection 
of the teeth is always sufficient to distinguish the members of these two 
orders. hlntition of hedgehog. 
The leading peculiarities of the Insectivora may be briefly indicated, (Natural size.) 
with reference to the groups which approach them most closely in certain 
points of structure. The limbs are all organised for walking or digging, the fore limbs never being 
modified, as in the Bats, into organs of flight, and the two bones of the fore-arm ( radius and ulna) 
are always more or less distinct. There is no opposable thumb, either on the fore or the hind feet. 
The teeth, which are always encased in enamel, are of the usual three kinds — incisors, canines, and 
molars * — and the dentition generally resembles that of the strictly Insectivorous Bats, the molars 
* There is sometimes a difficulty in distinguishing between canines and premolars, and it will he seen, hereafter, 
that in some cases the canines are supposed to be wanting ; but no Insectivora possess two chisel-like, constantly-growing 
incisors in each jaw, separated by a long interval from the molars as in the Rodents, or Gnawing Mammals. 
