This thread will cover the Eulipotyphla, a clade of largely-insectivorous mammals which is located in a basal position within the larger Laurasiatheria, and which contains the majority of those species formerly classified within the Insectivora.
This latter group - now recognised as a polyphyletic grouping acting as a de-facto wastebasket grouping of superficially-similar mammalian clades filling a variety of niches - was regarded as comprising the following extant families:
Erinaceidae - Hedgehogs and Gymnures
Soricidae - Shrews
Talpidae - Moles, Shrew-moles and Desmans
Solenodontidae - Solenodons
Chrysochloridae - Golden Moles
Tenrecidae - Tenrecs
Potamogalidae - Otter Shrews
Macroscelididae - Sengis
Tupaiidae - Treeshrews
Ptilocercidae - Pen-tailed Treeshrew
However, this grouping comprises three unrelated lineages; the first four families comprise the Eulipotyphla, the subject of this thread, whilst the following four represent a portion of the Afrotheria - and have therefore been covered in a previous thread discussing this clade - and the latter two are classified as close kin to the colugos, primates, rodents and lagomorphs, and will be covered alongside some of these in a later thread.
Therefore, this thread will be restricted to a discussion of the Erinaceidae, Soricidae, Talpidae and Solenodontidae.
It is worth noting that given how extremely speciose the shrews are, I will be handling that portion of this thread in a slightly different fashion to previous photographic guides written by myself; rather than listing the range and known subspecies of each species, along with noting whether or not they are represented within the Zoochat gallery, I shall handle matters in a style more akin to that found within the rodent guides written by @Chlidonias wherein this information is only listed for those species which are illustrated, and remaining species are listed afterward.
Moreover, for this group alone I will relax my standing rule about only using images of living individuals.
This latter group - now recognised as a polyphyletic grouping acting as a de-facto wastebasket grouping of superficially-similar mammalian clades filling a variety of niches - was regarded as comprising the following extant families:
Erinaceidae - Hedgehogs and Gymnures
Soricidae - Shrews
Talpidae - Moles, Shrew-moles and Desmans
Solenodontidae - Solenodons
Chrysochloridae - Golden Moles
Tenrecidae - Tenrecs
Potamogalidae - Otter Shrews
Macroscelididae - Sengis
Tupaiidae - Treeshrews
Ptilocercidae - Pen-tailed Treeshrew
However, this grouping comprises three unrelated lineages; the first four families comprise the Eulipotyphla, the subject of this thread, whilst the following four represent a portion of the Afrotheria - and have therefore been covered in a previous thread discussing this clade - and the latter two are classified as close kin to the colugos, primates, rodents and lagomorphs, and will be covered alongside some of these in a later thread.
Therefore, this thread will be restricted to a discussion of the Erinaceidae, Soricidae, Talpidae and Solenodontidae.
It is worth noting that given how extremely speciose the shrews are, I will be handling that portion of this thread in a slightly different fashion to previous photographic guides written by myself; rather than listing the range and known subspecies of each species, along with noting whether or not they are represented within the Zoochat gallery, I shall handle matters in a style more akin to that found within the rodent guides written by @Chlidonias wherein this information is only listed for those species which are illustrated, and remaining species are listed afterward.
Moreover, for this group alone I will relax my standing rule about only using images of living individuals.
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elsewise this thread will be even more of a slog than it already is!