The penultimate volume of the Handbook of Mammals of the World covers all of the remaining orders (Cingulata, Pilosa, Afrosoricida, Macroscelidea, Scandentia, Dermoptera, and Eulipotyphla), other than bats (Chiroptera). From armadillos, sloths, and anteaters to shrews and moles, Volume 8 includes a wide variety of interesting small or medium-sized mammals from around the world. Most of them have different kinds of invertebrate and insectivorous diets, except sloths and colugos, which are arboreal herbivores and folivores.

This volume also includes a Special Chapter: Conservation Priorities and Actions for the orders Cingulata, Pilosa, Afrosoricida, Macroscelidea, Scandentia, Dermoptera, and Eulipotyphla by Rosalind Kennerley, Thomas Lacher, Jr, Victor Mason, Shelby McCay, Nicolette Roach, P. J. Stephenson, Mariella Superina & Richard Young.