Eulipotyphla
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 Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Clockwise from upper left: a solenodon, hedgehog, mole and shrew | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Magnorder: | Boreoeutheria |
| Superorder: | Laurasiatheria |
| Order: | Eulipotyphla Waddell et al., 1999 |
| Families | |
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| Synonyms | |
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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.
A 2023 study suggested that the order began to diversify prior to the K-Pg extinction, based on molecular clock estimates.