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mammals

Mammals are an important group of vertebrates characterized by the presence of mothers feeding their offspring. Notable characteristics of mammals include lactation, body hair, endothermy (warm-blooded animals), and a four-chambered heart. There are many species of mammals, living in almost all ecosystems on Earth, from the deep sea to the mountains, from tropical rainforests to the cold polar regions.

  • scientific name:Mammalia

  • Features

    • suckle:Females have mammary glands that secrete milk to feed their young.

    • Body hair:Most mammals are covered with hair.

    • Endothermic:Maintaining a constant body temperature through metabolism.

    • Four-chambered heart:Mammals have four-chambered hearts to ensure efficient oxygen delivery.

    • viviparous:Most mammals reproduce by giving birth to live young, but some species, such as monotremes (e.g. the platypus), lay eggs.

  • Habitat:Almost all habitats on Earth, including land, ocean, fresh water, polar regions, etc.

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Mammal classification table

Mammals are numerous and can be subdivided based on different biological characteristics. Mammals are roughly divided into three subclasses:

  1. Monotremata: Oviparous mammals.

  2. Marsupialia: Kangaroos, koalas, etc., whose young continue to develop in a pouch outside the mother's body.

  3. Eutheria: Viviparous mammals, the most abundant species, including humans, lions, whales, etc.

The following is a detailed classification table of mammals, including all orders, families, genera and typical animals:

sortOrderFamilyGenusExamples
MonotremataMonotremataOrnithorhynchidaeOrnithorhynchusPlatypus, Echidna


TachyglossidaeEchidnaEchidna
MarsupialiaMarsupialiaMacropodidaeMacropusKangaroos, wombats, possums


PhascolarctidaePhascolarctoskoala


DasyuridaeDasyurusBandicoot, Tasmanian devil
EutheriaCarnivoraCanidaeCanisWolf, dog, fox


FelidaeFelisHouse cat, lion, tiger


UrsidaeUrsusBlack bear, brown bear, polar bear

PerissodactylaEquidaeEquusHorse, donkey, zebra


RhinocerotidaeRhinocerosWhite rhino, black rhino


TapiridaeTapirusTapirus

ArtiodactylaBovidaeBosCattle, antelopes, sheep


CervidaeCervusDeer, reindeer, sika deer


SuidaeSusWild boar, domestic pig

CetaceaBalaenidaeMegapteraHumpback whale, blue whale


DelphinidaeDelphinusDolphins, killer whales

PrimatesCercopithecidaePongoOrangutans, gibbons, monkeys


HominidaeHomoHumans, chimpanzees, orangutans

RodentiaSciuridaeSciurusSquirrels, Ground Squirrels


CastoridaeCastorbeaver


MuridaeMusHouse mouse, vole

ChiropteraVespertilionidaeMyotisSmall bat, big bat

LagomorphaLeporidaeOryctolagusRabbit, hare

Characteristics and Adaptations of Mammals

Mammals are one of the most diverse groups in the biological world. Here are the main characteristics of mammals and how they adapt:


1. Breastfeeding

A notable feature of mammals is that mothers secrete milk through their mammary glands to feed their offspring. This allows mammal cubs to receive adequate nutritional support after birth, increasing their survival rate.


2. Body hair

Almost all mammals have body hair, which not only helps to keep warm, but also plays a camouflage or display function in some species. For example, the white hair of polar bears helps them camouflage in the snow and reduce the risk of being discovered by prey.


3. Homeothermy

Mammals maintain a stable body temperature through metabolism, which allows mammals to maintain a suitable temperature regardless of changes in the outside temperature. This feature allows mammals to survive in a variety of environments, including extreme environments such as polar regions and deserts.


4. Viviparity

Most mammals reproduce by giving birth to live young, which allows the embryo to receive more stable nutritional support in the mother's body and be more viable after birth. Some species, such as kangaroos and koalas, adopt marsupial parenting.


5. Diet

Mammals have a variety of diets, from herbivorous to carnivorous and omnivorous. Some species (such as bats) have even evolved to suck blood. Different diets allow mammals to find living space in a variety of ecological environments.


Summary: Mammals are the most advanced animals with the most perfect physiological functions. There are more than 4,000 existing mammals. Almost all mammals are warm-blooded. Feeding their offspring with breast milk is one of their most notable characteristics. Mammals include nearly 30 orders, including Monotremes, Carnivores, Primates, Perissodactyla, and Artiodactyla.

Carnivora Primates Rodents Chiroptera Eulipotyphla Ungulata Cetacea Lagoiformes Pangolins Proboscidea Monotremata
Barbastella leucomelas

Barbastella leucomelas

easternbarbastelle,Barbastella leucomelas

Features:The ears are broad and the tragus is triangular in shape.

Asian broad-eared bats live in caves, bark, or buildings in northern or alpine regions. Usually single or small group activity, breeding period gathered in groups. He has a hibernation habit. They feed on insects. Good for mankind. It has been li...

Tylonycteris robustula

Tylonycteris robustula

Tylonycteris robustula,Great Club-footed Bat

Features:

The brown bat species is rare. It is a tropical bat that lives in bamboo holes that are eaten by beetles. Since Zhang Libiao et al reported the discovery of this kind of new records in Hainan and other three provinces in 2008, Zhang Qiuping et al. (2014) and Wu Yi et al. (2015)...

Lesser Club-footed Bat

Lesser Club-footed Bat

Lesser Club-footed Bat,Tylonycteris pachypus

Features:The world's smallest bat has attracted attention because of its unique habit of inhabiting bamboo.

The bat is the smallest bat in the world, and the only one in the world that can get into bamboo tubes, because of its unique flat skull, people give it the image name "flat skull bat". According to records, the oblate skull bat has survived on the earth for 6 million years, belonging to t...

Chinese Noctule

Chinese Noctule

Chinese Noctule,Nyctalus plancyi

Features:The short ears are blunt triangles, and the body hair is short and shiny.

The Chinese bat lives in old buildings, tree holes and caves. The cluster is usually lurking in the ceiling mezzanine, eaves and wall cracks, sometimes with the pipistrella, brown bat and the same habitat. The pregnancy period is about 2 months, the lactation period is 6-7 weeks, and each fetus is 1...

Nyctalus noctula

Nyctalus noctula

Nyctalus noctula

Features:The flight was extremely fast

Brown bats live in small groups. Generally, more than 10 clusters are active, and many are about 100. Mating before hibernation, females do not ovulate. The following spring ovulation is fertilized by sperm stored in the uterus. Gestation period 50 ~ 60d, 5 ~ 6 months to give birth. Lactation period...

Serotine

Serotine

Serotine,Eptesicus serotinus

Features:The back of the body is brown, and the primary color of the hair is strong.

Large brown bats live in a variety of habitats, including caves, rock crevices, eaves of houses, and gaps in doors, Windows, and walls. It mainly emits short, wide-band echolocation sound waves, which feed on coleoptera insects and also prey on diptera insects. There are four subspecies in China, na...

Vespertilio sinensis

Vespertilio sinensis

Vespertilio sinensis

Features:The ears are short and slightly triangular in width, and the base of the body hair is dark brown.

Eastern bats belong to human animals, often inhabit all kinds of artificial buildings, such as houses or building roof frames, ceilings, door and window frames and bridge gaps, can crawl or hang upside down in the gap between the roof beams of the shed. The number of populations varies greatly, few...

Miniopterus fuliginosus

Miniopterus fuliginosus

Big Bat, Big Night bat,Ia io

Features:The scientific name of the southern bat is the shortest name certified by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

Southern bats live in tall caves, with 3-5 or more than 10 individuals lurking high on the cave walls, mostly hanging as a single individual. They go out at night to hunt for flying insects and return before dawn. Large groups of Asiatic long-winged bats (<Miniopterus fuliginosus) and other speci...

Pipistrellus pulveratus

Pipistrellus pulveratus

Pipistrellus pulveratus,Hypsugo pulveratus

Features:The ears are triangular in shape, and the body hair is black with a few short sand-colored frost-like hairs, and no obvious penis bone.

It is a carnivorous bat that hunts in waters or near villages, feeding on insects such as mosquitoes and moths. The population is small, often single or small groups lying in the rock crevices. There are wide-eared Canis bats living in the same hole, and occasionally scattered b...

Pipistrellus circumdatus

Pipistrellus circumdatus

Pipistrellus circumdatus,Arielulus circumdatus

Features:The body hair base is bright black, the back hair tip chestnut brown or rusty brown, with a bronze luster.

Pipistrellus has previously been classified as <Pipistrellus> by Heller & Volleth (1984) as <P. societatis>, However, both Hill & Francis (1984) and Corbet & Hill (1992) considered it to be an independent species <P. circumdatus>. Csorba et al. (199...

CHIROPTERA

CHIROPTERA

CHIROPTERA,Pipistrellus minus

Features:The cranium is small and flat

Pipistrella is also known as the Jurassic wing. Wang Yingxiang (2003) identified Pipistrellus mimus as a separate species, but Smith & Xie Yan (2009) identified it as a subspecies of Pipistrellus mimus (<P. t. minus>). It is widely distributed at low latitudes. T...

Pipistrellus abramus

Pipistrellus abramus

Pipistrellus abramus

Features:The penis bone is very long, up to more than 10mm.

The common pipistrella is a very common type of bat that lives in clusters and catches insects for food. In groups of 5 to 20, the activity is closely related to food, leaving the residence in the evening and returning at dawn. The activity frequency of the return is positively c...

Pipistrellus coromandra

Pipistrellus coromandra

Pipistrellus coromandra

Features:The ears are small and thin and elongated

Pipistrella indiensis is a small to medium sized Pipistrella. It lives in mountains, plains and other places, appears between buildings, and is also found in primitive forest areas. Tibet was caught in a tree hole. Pipistrellus coromandra portensis (Pipistrell...

Pipistrellus abramus

Pipistrellus abramus

Pipistrellus abramus

Features:The ears are small and slightly blunt triangular in shape

The East Asian pipistrella, also known as the Japanese Pipistrella, is the most common species in the evening sky in urban and rural areas. It usually inhabits buildings (especially tiled houses) and can gather several small groups lurking in the ceiling, under the eaves of tiled...

Myotis siligorensis

Myotis siligorensis

Myotis siligorensis

Features:

The size of the tall cranial Myotis bat in Vietnam varies greatly, so the subspecies of this species remains to be studied. The Chinese subspecies is <Myotis iligorensis sowerbyi> (Howell,1926). Cave habitat, sometimes can gather large groups, many up to thousands. It is commonly shared with o...

Myotis rufoniger

Myotis rufoniger

Myotis rufoniger

Features:The color is bright, ochre red, reddish-brown on the back, orange on the abdomen

Myotis Watasei feeds on insects, especially mosquitoes, and is beneficial to humans. Csorba et al. (2014) classified the goatley-eared bat (<Myotis formosus) and its related species. Dang Feihong et al. (2016), through morphological and molecular studies, showed that the "goat-eat-bat"...

Myotis ricketti

Myotis ricketti

Myotis ricketti

Features:The hind feet are large and several tibia length, the claws are strong and curved, and the backs of the feet have stiff hairs.

Big-footed mouse-eared bats have attracted much attention because of their special habit of catching fish on the surface for food. Often clustered in hills or mountains, caves. Estrus in late autumn and early winter, and 1 baby in June of the following year. The adult body weight is generally 20g-30...

Myotis petax

Myotis petax

Myotis petax

Features:

They often live in groups in caves, fly in forest glades, and also fly above water, suggesting that they may trawl the water for fish. The echolocation sound wave is typical frequency modulation, accompanied by 1-2 harmonics. They come out at dusk to hunt nocturnal insects. This specie...

Aplodontia rufa

Aplodontia rufa

Aplodontia rufa,Mountain Beaver

Rodents LC

Features:The temporalis muscle in masticatory muscle is strong, and it is the most primitive member of rodent

The Mountain Beaver (Aplodontia rufa) has seven subspecies.Mountain beavers live in burrows like most other rodents and have a good sense of smell and touch, relying less on sight and hearing. Eating plants, including their shells, can eat species such as cuckoos and nettles that are toxic to other...

Cynocephalus volans

Cynocephalus volans

Cynocephalus volans

Mammal LC

Features:

The Philippine Cynocephalus volans feeds on leaves, buds, flowers and fruits. He sleeps during the day and comes out at night. When resting during the day, they either cling to a thick tree trunk to rest, or sleep by hanging upside down from a branch with their feet up, like a hammock. If it is a fe...

Cynocephalus variegatus

Cynocephalus variegatus

Cynocephalus variegatus,Malayan flying lemur

Mammal LC

Features:The body hair is dark grayish brown with white spots for long distance gliding

Malayan flying lemur (Cynocephalus variegatus) is a member of the Cynocephalus family.The colugo rests upside down in tree holes or branches during the day, and comes out at night. It is good at climbing and gliding. Main food, flowers, buds, bamboo shoots, young leaves, fruit, nectar, SAP.After a g...