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Class Mammalia
Order Eulipotyphla

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Soricidae—Shrews // Talpidae—Moles

Eulipotyphla—Shrews, Moles, and Relatives

These taxa have been treated under a number of ordinal names, including Insectivora and Soricomorpha. These names, and others that have been erected, appear to not consist of natural units. The classification followed here is believed to be natural and was used by Woodman (2018) in his recent overview of New World members.

As used here, the order contains five families. Two of these are island forms that do not require discussion here, nor do the Old World hedgehogs. The other two are the Talpidae (moles) and Soricidae (shrews), both of which occur or occurred in the Southwest.

Moles currently occur along the West Coast and in eastern North America. The latter approach the eastern margins of our region. The region intermediate between these groups is devoid of talpids. In the east, they have been recorded as fossils in our region only from the Blancan portion of the Pleistocene. However, Schmidly (2004) noted that moles currently extend in the Canadian River drainage to the New Mexico line in the northern Panhandle of Texas, and there apparently is (or historically was) a population in Presidio County, Texas. Thus the possibility of Rancholabrean fossils in the far eastern lands of our region appears strong.

The Soricidae is represented rather commonly by fossils in our region, though most living species in the inland portion of the region are limited to montane regions.

Literature. Woodman 2018; Hutterer 2005; Schmidly 2004.


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Last Update: 19 Aug 2019