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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 Pholidota Proboscidea Monotremata
Panthera leo krugeri

Panthera leo krugeri

Panthera leo krugeri,South African Lion,Transvaal Lion, South African Lion, Katanga Lion

Features:This subspecies has a white variant

Kruger Lion (scientific name: Panthera leo krugeri) is also known as South African Lion. It is one of the subspecies of lion. But this subspecies has a white variant, which is also the only white variant of lion. The lions found in and around Kruger National Park in South Africa are Kruger lions. Th...

Panthera leo kamptzi

Panthera leo kamptzi

Panthera leo kamptzi,Cameroon Lion

Features:Large, well-proportioned body, medium-length limbs, digitigrade

Cameroon Lion (scientific name: Panthera leo kamptzi) is a subspecies of lion, originally a subfamily, and is now one of the Senegalese lion populations.Lions usually live in groups, with a pride of about 8 to 30 members, with an average of 17. They often include several generations of female lions,...

Panthera leo hollisteri

Panthera leo hollisteri

Panthera leo hollisteri

Features:The hair is short and hard, and the body color is light gray, yellow or brown.

Kenyan lion (scientific name: Panthera leo hollisteri) is a subspecies of lion and is now one of the Nubian lion populations.Lions usually live in groups, with a lion group of about 8 to 30 members, with an average of 17. It often includes several generations of lionesses, at least one adult male li...

Panthera leo vernayi

Panthera leo vernayi

Panthera leo vernayi,Katanga Lion

Features:Its ability to withstand thirst and heat is better than other subspecies of lions.

The scientific name of the Kalahari lion is Panthera leo vernayi, which is one of the largest lion subspecies in existence.Kalahari lions usually live in groups, with a lion group of about 8 to 30 members, usually 15 members. It often contains two to four adult female lions, at least one adult male...

Panthera leo azandicus

Panthera leo azandicus

Panthera leo azandicus,Northeastern Congo Lion,lion

Features:The body color is light gray, yellow or brown, with strong limbs and wide claws.

Congo lion (scientific name: Panthera leo azandicus) is called Northeastern Congo Lion in foreign language. It is a subspecies of lion.Congo lions usually live in groups, with a lion group of about 8 to 30 members, with an average of 17. It often includes several generations of lionesses, at least o...

Neofelis diardi

Neofelis diardi

Neofelis diardi, Sunda Clouded Leopard, Enkuli Clouded Leopard, Sunda Clouded Leopard, Sunda Islands Clouded Leopard, Sundaland Clouded Leopard,Diade clouded leopard, Malayan clouded leopard

Features:Diade clouded leopard, Malayan clouded leopard

Sunda Clouded Leopard (scientific name: Neofelis diardi) English name Sunda Clouded Leopard, Enkuli Clouded Leopard, Sunda Clouded Leopard, Sunda Islands Clouded Leopard, Sundaland Clouded Leopard, is a cat species distributed in Borneo and Sumatra, with 2 subspecies.The Sunda clouded leopard was on...

Lynx rufus

Lynx rufus

Lynx rufus,Bobcat,Bobcat, red lynx, North American bobcat, red cat

Features:Its fur is gray to brown, and it resembles other medium-sized lynxes.

Bobcat (scientific name: Lynx rufus) is a cat species distributed in North America, with a total of 12 subspecies.Bobcats have a strong ability to adapt to the environment and are animals that are active at dawn, mainly appearing at dawn and dusk. They start to move three hours before sunset until a...

Lynx pardinus

Lynx pardinus

Lynx pardinus,Spanish Lynx,Marco Pseudomarginatus, Iberian Lynx, Southern European Lynx

Features:Smaller than the common lynx, with darker spots on its fur

The Spanish lynx (scientific name: Lynx pardinus) is the largest cat species in Europe. It is considered by biologists to be one of the smallest cat species in the world, with no subspecies.Spanish lynx, especially females with cubs, roam as far as 100 kilometers. Depending on the amount of prey, th...

Lynx canadensis

Lynx canadensis

Lynx canadensis,Canada Lynx

Features:It is smaller than other lynxes, with a stocky body and a very short tail, usually less than 1/4 of the length of the head and body.

Canada Lynx (scientific name: Lynx canadensis) is also known as Canada Lynx in foreign languages. There are three subspecies.Canada Lynx is a solitary animal that is very secretive. It usually moves at night and has a large activity area. It is a nocturnal hunter without a fixed nest. During the day...

Leopardus jacobita

Leopardus jacobita

Leopardus jacobita,Andean Cat,Mountain cat, South American mountain cat, Andean mountain cat

Features:It looks like a snow leopard, about the size of a house cat, but with a longer tail, and has a shiny silver-grey coat with stripes and spots.

Andean Tiger Cat (scientific name: Leopardus jacobita) is also known as Andean Cat, and has no subspecies.Andean tiger cats have sharp eyesight and hearing, are good at jumping and running between steep rock walls, and feed on rodents, birds, and reptiles. They feed on rodents, lizards, insects, bir...

Leopardus wiedii

Leopardus wiedii

Leopardus wiedii,Margay

Features:The head is shorter, the tail and limbs are longer, and the spots on the tail are also different.

The long-tailed tiger cat (scientific name: Leopardus wiedii) is also known as Margay in foreign languages. It is a large tiger cat with 11 subspecies.The long-tailed tiger cat lives alone and is active at night. They are good tree climbers and can live their entire lives in trees, traversing them t...

Leopardus pardalis

Leopardus pardalis

Leopardus pardalis,Ocelot

Features:The body is uniform, the limbs are medium-length, and the body is dotted with black spots and dark brown rectangular patches surrounded by black edges.

Ocelot (scientific name: Leopardus pardalis) is also known as Ocelot in English. There are 10 subspecies.Ocelots are mostly active at night and are territorial. Their hunting methods are similar to those of most cats. They are also good at swimming and climbing trees. However, their climbing skills...

Scandentia

Scandentia

Scandentia,Sino-Burmese tree shrew, Northern tree shrew

Mammal LC

Features:Can produce 8 different sounds for alarm, attention, contact and defense.

Tree shrews are highly adaptable and are distributed from low altitude areas close to sea level to plateaus at an altitude of about 3,000 meters. They live in a variety of habitats such as deciduous forests, evergreen broad-leaved forests, tropical rainforests and limestone, and can also use seconda...

Procyon lotor

Procyon lotor

Procyon lotor,Raccoon, Food Thief, Pippi Bear

Features:The most distinctive feature of a raccoon is the black area around its eyes, commonly known as "eye circles", which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face color.

Raccoon, Procyon lotor (Linnaeus 1758), is a species of animal in the genus Procyon, family Procyonidae, order Carnivora, class Mammalia, native to North America, and now a species of least concern. Because it often preys on fish by the river and washes its food in the water, it is named raccoon.Rac...

Leopardus tigrinus

Leopardus tigrinus

Leopardus tigrinus,Oncilla

Features:It is the smallest species in the genus Ocelot

The Oncilla (scientific name: Leopardus tigrinus) has three subspecies. It is one of the smallest wild cats in South America and the smallest in the genus Oncilla. It is very similar to the Oncilla in all other aspects. The all-black Oncilla accounts for about 1/5 of the total number.The tabby cat i...

Oncifelis guigna

Oncifelis guigna

Oncifelis guigna,Kodkod,South American Lincat

Features:It is the smallest cat in America, about the same size as a house cat, or perhaps smaller.

The South American tiger cat (scientific name: Oncifelis guigna) is also known as Kodkod in English. It is the smallest cat in America and has two subspecies.The South American tiger cat is mainly single and territorial. Its hunting style is similar to that of most cats. It is good at climbing and i...

Leopardus geoffroyi

Leopardus geoffroyi

Leopardus geoffroyi,Geoffroy's Cat,Joe's cat, clouded leopard, fishing leopard

Features:Both the southern and northern Joe's ocelots have beautiful patterns.

Geoffroy's Cat (scientific name: Leopardus geoffroyi) is called Geoffroy's Cat in foreign language. There are 5 subspecies.Geoffroy's Cat is a solitary and secretive nocturnal walker, and it will come out at dawn and dusk. It is a typical arboreal animal, and often looks for food on the...

Ladakh pika

Ladakh pika

Ladakh pika

Features:The type locality of this species is Ladakh, Kashmir.

The taxonomic status of the Ladakh pika is relatively stable. However, due to the small number of specimens, the research is not in-depth, and the ecological research is almost blank. Therefore, it is a species that is little known. From the distribution habitat, its habitat is a hilly plateau surfa...

Leopardus colocolo

Leopardus colocolo

Leopardus colocolo,Pampas Cat,South American savannah cat, savannah cat

Features:There is a long mane on the back up to 7 cm long

Pampas Cat (scientific name: Leopardus colocolo) is also known as Pampas Cat, with 8 subspecies.Pampas Cat is mainly active at night, is an expert climber, very ferocious, and very agile. It mainly preys on small mammals, mainly rodents and guinea pigs, but also catches ground-dwelling birds and eve...

Herpailurus yaguarondi

Herpailurus yaguarondi

Herpailurus yaguarondi

Features:The fur has no spots and is very uniform in color, ranging from black to brownish gray (gray scale), or from fox red to chestnut (red scale).

The slender-waisted cat (scientific name: Herpailurus yaguarondi) is also known as Jaguarundi and Eyra Cat in foreign languages. There is only one species in this genus, namely the slender-waisted cat. It is a medium-sized wild cat. In some Spanish-speaking countries, the slender-waisted cat is also...

Puma concolor

Puma concolor

Puma concolor,Puma、Mountain Lion,Mountain lion, golden cat, pounce horse

Features:It is about the same size as a leopard, but has no markings and a smaller skull.

Puma (scientific name: Puma concolor) is also known as Puma or Mountain Lion in foreign languages. It is an animal of the class Mammalia, family Felidae, and genus Cat. Based on the classical genetic analysis by Culver et al., 32 subspecies have been identified and described. In 2000, it was suggest...