Any of various small, usually nocturnal mammals of the order Insectivora that feed on insects and other invertebrates. Insectivores have long snouts and resemble rodents, but lack gnawing incisors. Moles, shrews, hedgehogs, and tenrecs are insectivores.
Any of various small, principally nocturnal mammals that characteristically feed chiefly on insects and other small invertebrates, and including the shrews, moles, and hedgehogs.
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An insectivorous organism.
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Any of an order (Insectivora) of generally small, primitive mammals, as moles, shrews, or hedgehogs, that are active mainly at night and that feed principally on insects.
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Any animal or plant that feeds on insects.
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An animal or plant that feeds mainly on insects.
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Origin of insectivore
New Latin Īnsectivoraorder name Latin īnsectuminsectinsect Latin -voraneuter pl. of-vorus-vorous
From
American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
The other is a peculiar insectivore (Solenodon paradoxus), the only other representatives of whose family ace found in Madagascar.
Thus Huxley, with true prophetic instinct, found that the sum of primitive characters of all the higher placental mammals points to a stem form of a generalized insectivore type, a prophecy which has been fully confirmed by the latest research.
It is, however, important to mention that an extinct South American insectivore, Necrolestes, has been referred to the family last mentioned; and even if this reference should not be confirmed in the future, the occurrence of a representative of the order in Patagonia is a fact of considerable importance in distribution.