Insectivora (Insectivores)

Howard P Whidden, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0001557

The Insectivora is the order of mammals containing the shrews, moles, hedgehogs, golden moles, solenodons and tenrecs.

Keywords: chrysochlorids; hedgehogs; moles; shrews; solenodons; tenrecs

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Further Reading
	book Butler PM (1988) "Phylogeny of the insectivores". In: Benton MJ (ed.) The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods, vol. 2, pp. 117–141. Systematics Association Special Volume No. 35B. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
	book Churchfield S (1990) The Natural History of Shrews. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing.
	book Eisenberg JF and Gould E (1970) The Tenrecs: A Study in Mammalian Behavior and Evolution. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
	book Gorman ML and Stone RD (1990) The Natural History of Moles. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing.
	ePath International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Red List of Threatened Animals. [www.wcmc.org.uk/species/animals/animal_redlist.html]
	book Kingdon J (1974) East African Mammals, An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, vol II: Part A (Insectivores and Bats). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
	book MacPhee RDE and Novacek MJ (1993) "Definition and relationships of Lipotyphla". In: Szalay FS, Novacek MJ and McKenna MC (eds) Mammal Phylogeny, vol. 2 pp. 13–31. New York: Springer-Verlag.
	book MacDonald DW (ed.) (1985) The Encyclopedia of Mammals. New York: Facts on File.
	book Nowak RM (1991) Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th edn, vol. 1. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
	book Reeve N (1994) Hedgehogs. London: T & AD Poyser.
	ePath Smithsonian Institution (1993) Mammal Species of the World. [www.nmnh.si.edu/msw/]
	book Vaughan TA (1986) Mammalogy, 3rd edn. New York: Saunders College Publishing.

	Figure 1. Insectivorans. (a) Chrysochloridae (golden mole); (b) Erinaceidae (left: spiny hedgehog; right: gymnure); (c) Solenodontidae (solenodon); (d) Soricidae (shrew); (e) Talpidae (left: shrew mole; centre: desman; right: fossorial mole); (f) Tenrecidae (left: shrew tenrec; centre: spiny tenrec; right: otter shrew).
	Figure 2. Insectivoran skulls. (a) Chrysochloridae (Amblysomus); (b) Erinaceidae (Hylomys); (c) Solenodontidae (Solenodon); (d) Soricidae (Blarina); (e) Talpidae (Scalopus); (f) Tenrecidae (Microgale).