Insectivora

Insectivora
European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
The extinct Macrocranion tupaiodon

The order Insectivora (from Latin insectum "insect" and vorare "to eat") is a now-abandoned biological grouping within the class of mammals. Some species have now been moved out leaving the remaining ones in order Eulipotyphla, within the larger clade Laurasiatheria, which makes up one of the most basic clades of placental mammals.

Contents

History

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. Therefore, at its widest extent, the order Insectivora represented an evolutionary grade rather than a clade.

Taxonomy

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.

Erinaceidae (hedgehogs) was then also split off into a separate order (Erinaceomorpha) from the remainder (termed Soricomorpha), comprising the families Soricidae (shrews), Talpidae (moles), Solenodontidae and Nesophontidae.[1] These two orders then replaced Insectivora. This scheme was undermined when molecular studies indicated that Soricomorpha is paraphyletic, because Soricidae shared a more recent common ancestor with Erinaceidae than with other soricomorphs.[2]

However, the combination of Soricidae and Erinaceidae, referred to as order Eulipotyphla, has been shown to be monophyletic.[3]

Classification

  • ORDER EULIPOTYPHLA (= 'Insectivora')

Family-level cladogram of extant insectivoran relationships, following Roca et al.:[2]

   Eulipotyphla   

Solenodontidae




Talpidae




Soricidae



Erinaceidae





These families have been placed within Insectivora in the past:

Not to be confused with insectivores (the eaters of insects considered as a feeding behavior), many of which do not belong to Eulipotyphla or the other taxa formerly included within Insectivora.

References

  1. ^ Hutterer, Rainer (16 November 2005). Wilson, Don E., and Reeder, DeeAnn M.. ed. Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). pp. 212–311. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3. 
  2. ^ a b Roca, A.L., G.K. Bar-Gal, E. Eizirik, K.M. Helgen, R. Maria, M.S. Springer, S.J. O'Brien, and W.J. Murphy (2004). "Mesozoic origin for West Indian insectivores". Nature 429 (6992): 649–651. doi:10.1038/nature02597. PMID 15190349. 
  3. ^ Robin MD Beck, Olaf RP Bininda-Emonds, Marcel Cardillo, Fu-Guo Robert Liu and Andy Purvis (2006). "A higher level MRP supertree of placental mammals". BMC Evolutionary Biology 6: 93. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-6-93. PMC 1654192. PMID 17101039. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/6/93. 

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Insectivora — In sec*tiv o*ra, n. pl. [NL., from L. insectum an insect + vorare to devour.] (Zo[ o]l.) 1. An order of mammals which feed principally upon insects. [1913 Webster] Note: They are mostly of small size, and their molar teeth have sharp cusps. Most… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Insectivŏra — (lat., »Insektenfresser«), Ordnung der Säugetiere (s. Insektenfresser); auch eine Abteilung der Handflügler (s. d.); ferner soviel wie Insektenfressende Pflanzen …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Insectivora — Insectivŏra, s. Insektenfresser …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Insectivora —   [lateinisch], die Insektenfresser.   …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Insectivora — Insectivora, Insektenfresser, Ordnung der ⇒ Eutheria mit ursprünglichen Formen. Gebiss mit vielen spitzen Zähnen zum Ergreifen ihrer aus Insekten, Würmern, Schnecken bestehenden Beute. Sieben Familien: Tenrecidae (Madagaskar); Potamogalidae… …   Deutsch wörterbuch der biologie

  • Insectivora — Cet article concerne l ordre biologique. Pour le régime alimentaire, voir Insectivore. Insectivores …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Insectivora —   Insectívoros Erinaceus europaeus …   Wikipedia Español

  • Insectivora — Insektenfresser Europäischer Maulwurf (Talpa europaea) Systematik Überklasse: Kiefermäuler (Gnathostomata …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Insectívora — Los insectívoros (Insectivora) son un orden de mamíferos placentarios. Son los mamíferos más primitivos. Se caracterizan por su pequeño tamaño, por ser plantígrados y de hábitos nocturnos. La dentición es completa y el tipo de alimentación se… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Insectivora — vabzdžiaėdžiai statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas būrys apibrėžtis Būryje 7 šeimos. atitikmenys: lot. Insectivora angl. insect eaters; insect eating mammals; insectivores vok. Insectenesser; Insectenfresser; Kerfjäger rus.… …   Žinduolių pavadinimų žodynas

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