Mammals and Their Classification

Mammals and their
classification
Diagnostic Features
 Presence of mammary glands

 Presence of Hairs
 Presence of Placenta
 Presence of specialized Teeth
 Extented Parental care
 Advanced Nervous system
 External ears
 4 chambered Heart
 Live birth
 Separate chest and abdominal cavity
Classification
Mammals
Prototheria Metatheria Eutheria

Prototheria
 Egg lying mammals

 It include one order i.e Monotremata (from
Greek , monos "single" and trema "hole", referring to
the cloaca.
 Monotremata includes 2 suborders
1) Trachyglossa (Spiny ant eater)
2) Platypoda (Platypus)
Monotremes
 Mammalian characters of Monotremes
 Do have hairs
 Have mammary glands
 Single jaw bone
 3 internal ear bones
 Non mammalian characters
 Presence of cloaca
 Donot give live birth
 Limbs are attached to lateral surfaces of body
 Webbed foot
 Flat tail
 Snout is modified into beak and bill
 Reptiles like eggs
Metatherians
 During development, metatherians produce a yolk

sac placenta and give birth to 'larval-like' offspring.
 These offspring have under developed rear limbs,
and after birth they migrate to the marsupium
where they attach to a nipple. The mouth of newly
born metatherians forms an "O" shape into which
the mother's nipple fits. Then it swells to secure the
offspring into place
 Examples
 Opossams and Kangroos
Eutheria
Placental mammals
Include 12 orders
1. Artiodactyla
2. Perissodactyla
3. Carnivora
4. Rodentia
5. Logomorpha
6. Cataceae
7. Sirenia
8. Probosidae
9. Chiroptera
10. Primata
11. Edentata
12. Insectivora
Order Artiodactyla
 The even-toed ungulates are hoofed animals – which
bear weight equally on two (an even number) of the five
toes: their third and fourth toes.
 The other three toes are either present,
absent, vestigial, or pointing posteriorly.
 Four chambered stomach
 Pigs and hippos-----brachydont(low crown teeth)
 Camels and other ruminants----hypsodont(high crown
teeth)
 Examples
 Goats, hippos, camel antilope
Order Perrisodactyla
Odd-toed ungulates bear weight on one (an

odd number) of the five toes: the third toe.
Include 3 families
Equidae e.g horse and zebra
Tapiradae e.g tapirs
Rhinoceridae e.g rhinos
Order Carnivora
 Feeding upon flesh

 Great diversity
 Aquatic and terrestrial
 Keen sense of sight
 Clawed feet
 Simple stomach and short intestine
 Well developed dentitition
 Example
 Tigers, lions seals, wolf
Order Chiroptera
 Forelimbs are modified into wings

 Largest mammalian order
 Only bats are included
 Divided into 2 suborders
 Microchiroptera
 Megachiroptera
Difference
MEGACHIROPTERA MICROCHIROPTERA
 Larger in size  Smaller in size

 Vegetarian  Insectivorous
 Found in old world tropics  Cosmopolitin
 Clawed fingers  No clawed fingers
 Narrow range of body  Wide range of body
temperature temperature
 Never hibernate  Hibernate
 Thick under fur  Lacking under fur
 Simplified cheek teeth  Distinguishable cheek teeth
 Flying foxes
 Bats
Order Probosidae
 Animals with large nose

 Trunk nosed mammals
 Only elephants are included
 Only found in plain areas
 Highly social animals
 Live in groups called herds
 Trunk are used for
Drinking water
Collection of food
Breathing
Order Cetaceae
 Sea monsters
 All whales are included
 The mammalian characteristics of whales are
 Presence of hairs in form of bristles
 Presence of mammary glands
 Warm blooded
 Give live birth
General characters
 Exclusively aquatic
 All are marine except dolphin
 Stream line body
 Forelimbs are modified into flipper
 2 minute eyes
 Nostrils (blowholes) are located at top of skull
 2 suborders
 Odontoceti-tooth whales(Dolphins)
 Mysteceti-toothless or baleen whales(Blue
whales)
Order Insectivora
 Insect eating animals
 Third largest order
 Include shrews, moles, hedgehog, and rats
 Body is covered with smooth hair fur
 Hairs are modifid into spines in hedgehog
 Hairs modified into vibrissae on mouth
 Nocturnal
 Pentadactyle except golden mole
 Long flat skull
 Minute eyes
 Live in Underground burrows
Order Logomorpha
 Look like hares
 Herbivorous animals
 Include rabbit, hares and pikkas
 2 families are
 Ochotonidae- pikas
 Leporidae-rabbits and hares
 Closely resembles rodents but certain differences are
 2 pairs of upper incisors
 Totally herbivorous
 Scrotum is located in front of penis
 Diastema is present
Order Serenia
 The Sirenia, commonly referred to as seacows or sirenians,
are an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals
 Inhabit swamps, rivers, estuaries, marine wetlands, and
coastal marine waters
 The Sirenia currently comprise the families
 Dugongidae (the dugong and historically, Steller's sea cow)
and Trichechidae (manatees) with a total of four species
 Sirenians have a large, fusiform body to reduce drag through
the water. They have heavy bones that act as ballasts to
counteract the buoyancy of their blubber
Order Rodentia
 All organisms contineously used their incisors for
chewing purposes
 One pair of upper and lower incisors
 Largest mammalian order
 Small body size
 Hide and protect themselves in limiting space
 Breeding cycle is short
 Diverse variety of food
 Includes rats, mouse, beaver, porcupine etc
 Smallest rodent=African pygmy mouse
 Largest rodent=Capybara
Order Edentata
• They're all unusual

• Some members of each group have reduced teeth
and eat ants/termites
• Tend to have limbs modified for digging
• They all have low reproductive rates
• Sloths, anteaters, armadillos are included in this
order
Order Primata
 Warm blooded
 Limber, shoulder and hip joint is present
 All living primates have prehensile hands and
feet, and most have five digits on these
appendages, including opposable thumbs
 Large size brain
 All primates exhibit the tendency to be erect
 Include apes, chimpanzii and human beings

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Mammals and Their Classification

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Mammals and their

 Presence of mammary glands

Prototheria Metatheria Eutheria

 Egg lying mammals

 During development, metatherians produce a yolk

Odd-toed ungulates bear weight on one (an

 Feeding upon flesh

 Forelimbs are modified into wings

 Larger in size  Smaller in size

 Animals with large nose

• They're all unusual

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