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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
common tree shrew

common tree shrew

common tree shrew,Tupaia glis

Mammal LC

Features:It is one of the largest tree shrews in the family

The common tree shrew (Tupaia glis) is a genus of tree shrew with no subspecies. Good climbing, mostly on trees, vines or shrubs, but also on the ground. Diurnal. Insects as the main food, but also eat young birds, mice and some wild fruits. Will communicate by smell and sound, when threatened, will...

Solenodon marcanoi

Solenodon marcanoi

Solenodon marcanoi

Features:

Solenodon marcanoi is a species of furrow toothed shrew. Nocturnal, living in caves. Sensitive sense of touch, use the sense of touch to feed, after finding prey quickly bite and inject venom, with this method can catch larger prey, but also eat plant food. They have long snout like shrews, which th...

Solenodon paradoxus

Solenodon paradoxus

Solenodon paradoxus

Features:It's a venomous mammal

Solenodon paradoxus is a mammal that lives on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean (Dominican Republic and Haiti).The shrew spends most of its time above ground at night, but it also spends part of its time underground. They sleep in cracks in rocks, holes in trees, holes in the ground, or hole...

Myotis muricola

Myotis muricola

Myotis muricola

Features:

Mountain Myotis bats often live in damp and ventilated caves or tunnels, but also have been reported to live in tree holes and eaves, and often gather in groups of dozens to hundreds of individuals. They've been found hibernating in the crevices of canals and tunnels. It feed...

Myotis macrodactylus

Myotis macrodactylus

Myotis macrodactylus

Features:Often emit short, wide-band FM echolocation sound waves

The Great toed Myotis bats inhabit the damp cave walls of the northeast in summer and migrate to warmer areas in winter. The population size is 200-2000, the population is relatively stable, and it is a common species in Changbai Mountain area of China.Great toed Myotis bats emit short, wide-band FM...

Myotis longipes

Myotis longipes

Myotis longipes

Features:The facial hair is soft and dense, extending to the face except around the eyes and mouth

Myotis capaccinii was once classified as a subspecies of Myotis capaccinii. However, Ellerman et al. (1951) separate it as a species, and Hanak et al. (1969), Corbet (1978), Bates (1997) and other scholars have also recognized this view. M. capaccinii is found mainly in the Medit...

Myotis petax

Myotis petax

Myotis petax

Features:Myotis minuscule

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

Myotis laniger

Myotis laniger

Myotis laniger

Features:The ear shell is short, the tragus is long and wide, and the tip is rounded.

The South China Water Myotis bat is a very common bat with a wide distribution range. It is mostly collected from caves, including natural caves and artificial caves with water. Yingxiang Wang (2003) included this species in the subspecies of <Myotis daubentonii>, and Topal (1997) considered i...

Myotis indochinensis

Myotis indochinensis

Myotis indochinensis

Features:The dorsal hair is darker than the ventral hair, the base is black, the tip is light gray, but the tip of the ventral hair is slightly pale.

Myotis chinensis is a separate species from the mountain Myotis montivagus by Son et al. (2013). Previously, it was found in China, India, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and the Indonesian island of Kalimantan. Son et al. (2013) collected some specimens from V...

Myotis adversus

Myotis adversus

Myotis adversus

Features:The auricle is prominent and bare, and the tragus is short and relatively wide.

According to the literature, Myotis laniger is slightly larger than Myotis laniger, but it is not easily separated in the field identification. Its body size overlaps with the South China Myotis bat. Phylogenetic relationships indicate that it is closely related to Myotis macrot...

Myotis hasseltii

Myotis hasseltii

Myotis hasseltii

Features:

Myotis horsfieldii belongs to the subgenus <Leuconoe> and is particularly similar to Myotis Horsfieldii, except that the pterygodes of the lesser megapodes end at the ankle, whereas the pterygodes end at the base of the metatarsal bone. The former has a wider skull and str...

Myotis fimbriatus

Myotis fimbriatus

Myotis fimbriatus

Features:Endemic species in China

There may be some confusion about the classification of hairy-legged Myotis bats. Different scholars have different classification views, and some scholars have proposed that this species is related to Myotis mysticinus (<Myotis mysticinus>), macrodactylus (<M. macrodactylus>), and long-...

Myotis chinensis

Myotis chinensis

Myotis chinensis

Features:One of the larger species of bat family. The head is like a mouse, but the tips of the ears are long and the front fold can reach the end of the nose.

The Chinese Myotis bat is one of the larger species of bat family. It inhabits large caves, hanging single or in numbers from the roof walls of caves. Sometimes they form mixed colonies of tens or hundreds of large footed bats. Flying insects, night out of the cave to hunt, return to the cave before...

Myotis badius

Myotis badius

Myotis badius

Features:The ears are longer than they are wide and have a spear-shaped tragus.

Chinchilla bats belong to the Myotis siligorensis group, which was first identified and named in Yunnan, China, in 2011。It often lives in limestone caves at higher elevations, surrounded by forests and shrubs. Often co-habitates with other bat species, Such as the Chinese Rhinolophus sinicus, the l...

Myotis altarium Thomas

Myotis altarium Thomas

Myotis altarium Thomas

Features:The tragus is narrow and long

Southwest Mouse-eared bat, also known as Emei Mouse-eared Bat or Sichuan Mouse-eared bat, is an animal of the genus Mouse-eared bat of the bat family, and is a unique species in China. It is distributed in Jiangxi, Guizhou, Anhui, Sichuan and other places, and mainly inhabits caves, and mostly cohab...

,Chaerephon plicata,

,Chaerephon plicata,

,Chaerephon plicata,

Features:The snout is broad, with some species having wrinkled lips and no nasal lobes.

During the day, small groups lurk in caves, cliff cracks, and also hide in cracks in buildings such as houses. Morning and night out for food. He has a hibernation habit. Insectivorous, good for humans. Some scholars have found a group of tens of thousands of animals living in a cliff crevise in Lib...

,European free-tailed bat

,European free-tailed bat

,European free-tailed bat

Features:The ears are large, short and broad, and have a distinct sharp Angle, and the body is covered with dark brown short hair, and the wings are also dark brown.

The number of individuals is small, single or two or three undulating in the rock crevices. They have a strong life force, climb quickly, and live in one place all year round, not mixed with other species of bats. In the same cave, a few pipistrella cineraria and a few scattered bats with broken win...

chiroptera

chiroptera

CHIROPTERA

Features:The nasal lobes are very distinctive and easy to recognize.

There are only a few hundred of them now, and the population is rare. For a small animal population of only a few hundred, this population is already too rare, and it can be said that it is even more precious than the giant panda. Cave bats, which feed on small insects.In March 2006, Zhang Shuyi, a...

Aselliscus stoliczkanus

Aselliscus stoliczkanus

Aselliscus stoliczkanus

Features:Nasal lobes developed, with 3 inconspicuous longitudinal edges

The species is found in West Malaysia. The auricle and tail are very distinctive and easy to recognize. The population is extremely rare. Cave-like bats can intermix with a variety of bats, such as the Great hoofted bat (<Hipposideros armiger) and the Asian long-winged bat (<Miniopterus fuligi...

Zaglossus bartoni

Zaglossus bartoni

Zaglossus bartoni

Features:It is the largest of the monotremes

The Great long-robed echidna (Zaglossus bartoni) is a species of proto-echidna found in New Guinea, with four subspecies. They curl their bodies to defend themselves when attacked. The hard black hair on the back is covered with thorns like "steel nails", no tail, slow action, although the...

Zaglossus attenboroughi

Zaglossus attenboroughi

Zaglossus attenboroughi

Features:It is the tiniest member of the protoechidna genus, closely related to the Australian echidna

Attenborough's scientific name is Zaglossus attenboroughi, after David Attenborough. Like to dig holes, harm crops, harmful to agriculture, so it is a pest. But that's just from a human point of view, from a biological chain point of view, where moles play an important role. The hair is brow...