Eulipotyphla

Eulipotyphla (Template:IPAc-en, from eu- + Lipotyphla, meaning truly lacking blind gut;<ref name="Ohl 2018">Template:Cite book</ref> sometimes called true insectivores<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>) 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.

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.<ref name="Douady2002">Template:Cite journal</ref> In his 1866 Generelle morphologie der organismen, Ernst Haeckel named these groups Menotyphla and Lipotyphla,<ref name="Douady2002" /> 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).<ref name="Ohl 2018"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name="Douady2002" /><ref name="Roca2004">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Bininda-Emonds2007">Template:Cite journal</ref>

A 2023 study suggested that the order began to diversify prior to the K-Pg extinction, based on molecular clock estimates.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Classification

File:Talpa europaea MHNT.jpg

European mole (Talpidae)

File:Erinaceus europaeus (Linnaeus, 1758).jpg

European hedgehog (Erinaceidae)

File:Sorex-araneus.jpg

Common shrew (Soricidae)

File:Hispaniolan Solenodon crop.jpg

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Grigorev2018">Template:Cite journal</ref>

• Order Eulipotyphla (= 'Lipotyphla' - Afrosoricida = 'Erinaceomorpha' + 'Soricomorpha')
  • Family Erinaceidae<ref name="Kim2017">Template:Cite journal</ref>
    • Subfamily Erinaceinae: hedgehogs
    • Subfamily Galericinae: gymnures or moonrats
  • Family Soricidae<ref name="Dubey2007">Template:Cite journal</ref>
    • Subfamily Crocidurinae: white-toothed shrews
    • Subfamily Soricinae: red-toothed shrews
    • Subfamily Myosoricinae: African white-toothed shrews
  • Family Talpidae<ref name="He2017">Template:Cite journal</ref>
    • 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-level cladogram of modern eulipotyphlan relationships, following Roca et al. and Brace et al.:<ref name="Roca2004"/><ref name="Brace2016" />

The upper and lower basal subclades within the tree are the suborders Solenodonota and Erinaceota, respectively.<ref name="Brace2016" /> These two branches are estimated to have split ~72–74 million years (Ma) ago.<ref name="Brace2016">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name = "Lazaro2018" /><ref name="Grigorev2018" /> The Nesophontidae and Solenodontidae are thought to have separated roughly 57 Ma ago.<ref name="Brace2016" /> Split times for talpids vs. soricids plus erinaceids, and for soricids vs. erinaceids, have been estimated at 69 Ma and 64 Ma ago, respectively.<ref name="Springer2018">Template:Cite journal</ref>