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Eulipotyphla
Order of mammals From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Eulipotyphla (/ˌjuːlɪpoʊˈtɪflə/, from eu- + Lipotyphla, meaning truly lacking blind gut;[1] sometimes called true insectivores[2]) is an order of mammals comprising the Erinaceidae (hedgehogs and gymnures); Solenodontidae (solenodons); Talpidae (moles, shrew-like moles and desmans); and Soricidae (true shrews) families.
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Taxonomic history
Historically, these animals were grouped with others such as treeshrews, elephant shrews, and colugos, under the broader category Insectivora, comprising all small insect-eating placental mammals. Wilhelm Peters identified two sub-groups of Insectivora, distinguished by the presence or absence of a cecum in the large intestine.[3] In his 1866 Generelle morphologie der organismen, Ernst Haeckel named these groups Menotyphla and Lipotyphla,[3] respectively from μένω ("remain")/λείπω ("lack" or "leave behind") + τυφλὸν literally "blind", as in τυφλὸν ἔντερον ("blind intestine", from which the Latin intestinum caecum derives as a calque).[1][4]
Since the late 1990s, molecular studies have produced evidence that the Lipotyphla are not a monophyletic group. This led to tenrecs, otter shrews, and golden moles being placed a new order (Afrosoricida, in the superorder Afrotheria), with the remaining members of Lipotyphla being reclassified as Eulipotyphla.[3][5][6]
A 2023 study suggested that the order began to diversify prior to the K-Pg extinction, based on molecular clock estimates.[7]
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Classification
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- Order Eulipotyphla (= 'Lipotyphla' - Afrosoricida = 'Erinaceomorpha' + 'Soricomorpha')
- Family Erinaceidae[10]
- Subfamily Erinaceinae: hedgehogs
- Subfamily Galericinae: gymnures or moonrats
- Family Soricidae[11]
- Subfamily Crocidurinae: white-toothed shrews
- Subfamily Soricinae: red-toothed shrews
- Subfamily Myosoricinae: African white-toothed shrews
- Family Talpidae[12]
- Subfamily Talpinae: Old World moles and desmans
- Subfamily Scalopinae: New World moles
- Subfamily Uropsilinae: shrew-like moles
- Family Solenodontidae: solenodons
- † Family Nesophontidae: extinct West Indian shrews
- † Family Amphilemuridae
- † Family Nyctitheriidae
- † Family Plesiosoricidae
- Family Erinaceidae[10]
Family-level cladogram of modern eulipotyphlan relationships, following Roca et al. and Brace et al.:[5][13]
Eulipotyphla | |
The upper and lower basal subclades within the tree are the suborders Solenodonota and Erinaceota, respectively.[13] These two branches are estimated to have split ~72–74 million years (Ma) ago.[13][8][9] The Nesophontidae and Solenodontidae are thought to have separated roughly 57 Ma ago.[13] Split times for talpids vs. soricids plus erinaceids, and for soricids vs. erinaceids, have been estimated at 69 Ma and 64 Ma ago, respectively.[14]
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Notes
- Either a European hedgehog or a northern white-breasted hedgehog
References
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