Eulipotyphla Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Eulipotyphla Temporal range: Eocene to present

Clockwise from upper left: a solenodon, hedgehog, mole and shrew
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Magnorder:	Boreoeutheria
Clade:	Laurasiatheria
Order:	Eulipotyphla Waddell et al., 1999
Families
†Amphilemuridae †Nesophontidae Solenodontidae Talpidae Soricidae Erinaceidae

The Eulipotyphla is an order of mammals. This group includes animals like hedgehogs, shrews, and moles. Scientists created this order to group together certain insect-eating mammals that are closely related. They used to be part of an older group called "Insectivora," but that group wasn't made up of truly related animals. The new order, Eulipotyphla, brings together mammals that share a common ancestor.

The word "insectivorous" means "insect-eating." It describes how these animals find their food. Even though not all Eulipotyphla eat only insects, insects and other small creatures are a big part of their diet.

What Eulipotyphla Eat
Life Underground
Eulipotyphla Families
Images for kids
See also

What Eulipotyphla Eat

Most animals in the Eulipotyphla group mainly eat insects and other small animals. For example, moles and shrews love to munch on bugs. Some types, like the otter shrews in Africa or the star-nosed mole in North America, also eat fish. The Townsend mole, found in the Pacific Northwest, sometimes digs up plant bulbs because it likes to eat them!

Life Underground

Many moles spend most of their lives underground. They dig long tunnels in the dark earth. Because they live in darkness, their eyes are very small and not very useful. In some moles, their eyes don't even open to the outside! Instead, moles have amazing senses of touch and smell to help them find their way and hunt for food.

Eulipotyphla Families

Here are the main families within the Eulipotyphla order:

ORDER Eulipotyphla
- Family Erinaceidae
  - Subfamily Erinaceinae: These are the hedgehogs, known for their spiny coats.
  - Subfamily Hylomyinae: These include moonrats and gymnures, which look a bit like large shrews.
- Family Soricidae (true shrews)
  - Subfamily Crocidurinae: These are the white-toothed shrews.
  - Subfamily Soricinae: These are the red-toothed shrews.
  - Subfamily Myosoricinae: These are African white-toothed shrews.
- Family Talpidae
  - Subfamily Desmaninae: These are desmans, which are semi-aquatic moles.
  - Subfamily Talpinae: These are the typical moles you might know.
  - Subfamily Uropsilinae: These are shrew moles, which are a mix between shrews and moles.
- Family Solenodontidae: This family includes the solenodons, which are rare, venomous mammals found in the Caribbean.
- Family Nesophontidae: This family includes extinct shrews that used to live in the West Indies.