Order Eulipotyphla

The order Eulipotyphla includes shrews and moles that are characterized by their small size; feet plantigrade and pentadactyl; pollex and hallux not opposable; digits with claws; snout usually long and pointed; skull shape primitive; braincase low; orbital and temporal fossae confluent; tympanic bone usually annular, either entirely free or enclosed in an entotympanic bullae, or incorporated into the auditory bullae; basisphenoid and petrosal both taking part in the enclosure of the tympanic cavity; vertical portion of the palatine bone excluded from the orbit by the maxilla; angular process of the mandible typically not inflected; incisors may be reduced or enlarged; canines can be caniniform, incisiform, or premolariform; premolars acuminate, the posteriormost frequently sectorial; molars lophodont or bunodont; lower molars usually with five sharp tubercles and upper molars tritubercular or quadritubercular; distal ends of the tibia and fibula usually fused; glenoid fossa for the humerus widely separated from the sternum. Distribution nearly cosmopolitan. Two families occur in North America: Soricidae and Talpidae.