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Webster 1913 Edition
Insectivora
‖
Inˊsec-tiv′o-ra
,Noun.
pl.
[NL., from L.
insectum
an insect + vorare
to devour.] (Zool.)
1.
An order of mammals which feed principally upon insects.
☞ They are mostly of small size, and their molar teeth have sharp cusps. Most of the species burrow in the earth, and many of those of cold climates hibernate in winter. The order includes the moles, shrews, hedgehogs, tanrecs, and allied animals, also the colugo.
2.
A division of the
Chiroptera
, including the common or insect-eating bats. Definition 2024
Insectivora
Insectivora
See also: insectívora
Translingual
Proper noun
Insectivora
- (obsolete) A former taxonomic order within superorder Laurasiatheria that grouped together the insectivores (hedgehogs, shrews, moles, solenodons etc.)
Usage notes
Members of Insectivora were reorganised into the new orders Afrosoricida (golden moles, tenrecs, etc.), Erinaceomorpha (hedgehogs) and Soricomorpha (shrews, moles and solenodons); the latter two initially replaced Insectivora within Laurasiatheria. It was later found that Soricomorpha, as thus defined, is paraphyletic, but that the combination of the families Soricidae and Erinaceidae is monophyletic. Soricidae and Erinaceidae were therefore combined into order Eulipotyphla. (See 
Insectivora on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )
Hyponyms
- (obsolete order): Erinaceidae (hedgehogs etc.); Soricidae (shrews); Talpidae (moles, etc.); Solenodontidae (solenodons) (families)