An order of placental mammals including shrews, moles, and hedgehogs. The tree shrews (Tupaiidae) and elephant shrews (Macroscelididae) are now recognized as unrelated, and they are placed in separate orders (Scandentia and Macroscelidea). Formerly thought to be the basal placental order, from which other orders were derived, the Insectivora is now restricted to members of the former suborder Lipotyphla. It evolved side by side with the other placental orders, with a fossil record going back to the Paleocene. A number of fossil families from the Cretaceous and early Tertiary, formerly included in the Insectivora, are classified as Proteutheria.