Studying mammals: The insect hunters

From pygmy shrews to armadillos, a wide range of mammals survive on a diet made up largely of insects. Many of these have fascinating adaptations suited to catching or rooting out their prey. In this free course, Studying mammals: The insect hunters, you will learn about these adaptations, along with survival strategies for when food is scarce. This is the second course in the Studying mammals series.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 Meeting the insect eaters
• 1 Meeting the insect eaters
• 2 How insect eaters obtain their food
• 2 How insect eaters obtain their food
• 2.1 Mammalian dentition
• 2.2 Feeding techniques
• 3 Adaptations linked to feeding in insect eaters
• 3 Adaptations linked to feeding in insect eaters
• 3.1 Introduction
• 3.2 Shrews
• 3.3 Moles
• 3.4 Anteaters
• 3.5 Bats
• 4 Thinking about adaptation
• 4 Thinking about adaptation
• 5 Temperature regulation and the consequence of size
• 5 Temperature regulation and the consequence of size
• 5.1 Introduction
• 5.2 Body size and metabolic rate
• 5.3 Body size and surface area
• 6 Strategies for coping with cold and food shortage
• 6 Strategies for coping with cold and food shortage
• 6.1 Toughing it out
• 6.2 Opting out
• Conclusion
• Acknowledgements