Everything about Insectivora totally explained
The
order Insectivora (from
Latin insectum "insect" and
vorare "to eat") is a now-abandoned biological grouping within the class of
mammals.
In the past, the grouping was used as a scrapbasket for a variety of small to very small, relatively unspecialised, insectivorous mammals. Since any primitive-looking fossil groups of
placental mammals were commonly assigned to this order for convenience, it was held to constitute the basal stock out of which other placental orders had evolved. At its widest extent, therefore, the order Insectivora was
polyphyletic and can't be considered a
clade.
The
taxonomy has been refined in recent years, and
treeshrews,
elephant shrews, and
colugos have now been placed in separate orders, as have many fossil groups that were formerly included here. For some time it was held that the remaining insectivoran families constituted a
monophyletic grouping, or clade, to which the name
Lipotyphla had long been applied. However, molecular evidence indicated that Chrysochloridae (
golden moles) and Tenrecidae (
tenrecs) also should be separated as a new order
Afrosoricida. The species remaining in the clade Insectivora were then referred to as order
Eulipotyphla. After further scrutiny, other evidence now indicates that even Erinaceidae (
hedgehogs) should also be placed in a separate order from the remainder, comprising the families Soricidae (
shrews), Talpidae (
moles), Solenodontidae and Nesophontidae. These two orders,
Erinaceomorpha and
Soricomorpha, now replace Insectivora. Molecular studies indicate that Soricomorpha is paraphyletic, because Soricidae shared a more recent common ancestor with Erinaceidae than with other soricomorphs.
Family-level cladogram of extant insectivoran relationships, following Roca et al.:
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These families have been placed within Insectivora in the past: » * Family Chrysochloridae (golden moles)
* Family Tenrecidae (tenrecs) » * Family Macroscelididae (elephant shrews)
* Family Tupaiidae (treeshrews) » * Family Cynocephalidae (colugos)
Not to be confused with insectivores (the eaters of insects considered as an ecological niche), not all of which belong to the Order Insectivora.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Insectivora'.
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