Eulipotyphla

Eulipotyphla Temporal range:
Clockwise from upper left: a solenodon, hedgehog,mole and shrew
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Magnorder:	Boreoeutheria
Superorder:	Laurasiatheria
Order:	Eulipotyphla Waddell et al., 1999
Families
†Amphilemuridae? †Nyctitheriidae? †Plesiosoricidae Solenodonota Brace et al., 2016 †Nesophontidae Solenodontidae Erinaceota van Valen, 1967 Talpidae Soricidae Erinaceidae
Synonyms
Euinsectivora

Eulipotyphla (/ˌjuːlɪpoʊˈtɪflə/, which means "truly fat and blind") is an order of mammals suggested by molecular methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, which includes the laurasiatherian members of the now-invalid polyphyletic order Lipotyphla, but not the afrotherian members (tenrecs, golden moles, and otter shrews, now in their own order Afrosoricida).

Eulipotyphla comprises the hedgehogs and gymnures (family Erinaceidae, formerly also the order Erinaceomorpha), solenodons (family Solenodontidae), the desmans, moles, and shrew-like moles (family Talpidae) and true shrews (family Soricidae). True shrews, talpids and solenodons were formerly grouped in Soricomorpha; however, Soricomorpha has been found to be paraphyletic, since erinaceids are the sister group of shrews.

As part of the superorder Laurasiatheria, they are related to Carnivora (e.g. cats, dogs, bears), Pholidota (pangolins), Chiroptera (bats), Perissodactyla (equids) and Artiodactyla (e.g. bovids, deers).

Classification

European mole (Talpidae)

European hedgehog (Erinaceidae)

Common shrew (Soricidae)

Hispaniolan solenodon (Solenodontidae); solenodons are estimated to have diverged from other extant eulipotyphlans in the Late Cretaceous.

• Order Eulipotyphla (= 'Lipotyphla' - Afrosoricida = 'Erinaceomorpha' + 'Soricomorpha')
  • Family Erinaceidae
    • Subfamily Erinaceinae: hedgehogs
    • Subfamily Galericinae: gymnures or moonrats
  • Family Soricidae
    • Subfamily Crocidurinae: white-toothed shrews
    • Subfamily Soricinae: red-toothed shrews
    • Subfamily Myosoricinae: African white-toothed shrews
  • Family Talpidae
    • 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.:

The upper and lower basal subclades within the tree are the suborders Solenodonota and Erinaceota, respectively. These two branches are estimated to have split ~72-74 million years (Ma) ago. The Nesophontidae and Solenodontidae are thought to have separated roughly 57 Ma ago. Split times for talpids vs. soricids plus erinaceids, and for soricids vs. erinaceids, have been estimated at around 69 Ma and 64 Ma ago, respectively.