Mammals

1. Mammals Picard

2. What is a mammal? Lactation • Produces milk in the mammary glands allowing the mother to provide sustenance to offspring as they develop outside of the womb. Endothermic • An organism that generates heat to maintain its body temperature, typically above the temperature of its surroundings; warm-blooded. Hair • Acts as an insulation and protection against temperature and weather.

3. Mammal Classification • Order: Didelphimorpha • Family: Didelphidae- New World Opossums • Order: Insectivora • Family: Soricidae- Shrews • Family: Tilpidae- Moles • Order: Chiroptera • Family: Vespertilionidae- Common bats • Order: Carnivora • Family: Felidae- Mountain lion, bobcat • Family: Canidae- Wolves, coyotes, foxes • Family: Ursidae- Bears • Family: Procyonidae- Racoon • Family: Mustelidae- Badger, Weasels, Skunks, Otters • Family: Otariidae- Eared seals (fur seals, sea lions) • Family: Phocidae- earless seals (Harbor Seals, Elephant Seals) • Order: Cetacea- Whales, Dolphins, Porpoises • Family: Delphinidae: dolphins and porpoises • Family: Balaenopteridae Finback whales • Order: Rodentia • Family: Scuiridae- Squirrels, Chipmunks • Family: Castoridae- Beavers • Family: Muridae- Rats, Mice, Muskrat, Voles, Lemmings • Family: Erethizontidae- Porcupine • Order: Lagomorpha • Family: Leporidae- Rabbits and hares • Order: Artiodactyla • Family: Cervidae- Deer • Family: Antilocapridae- Pronghorn • Family: Bovidae- Bison

4. Rodents • Make up the most diverse group of mammals • Often considered to be pests • Large numbers • Destructive gnawing habits of some species • Important food source for other animals

5. Rodents • 4 Large incisor teeth in the front of the mouth • Teeth do not stop growing and must gnaw on wood or other materials to keep teeth worn down

6. Rodents • Primary Consumers: Herbivores • Serve as a dietary staple for secondary consumers • Hawks • Owls • Skunks • Fox • Coyotes • Bobcats • Lynx • Mink • Weasels • Shrews • Snakes • Small Reptiles • Bears • Smallest of the rodents: Mice

7. Rodents: Voles • Vole: small rodent with a stout body and short tail • Most common voles in North America are meadow vole, field mouse, muskrat. • Often confused with a mouse or rat • Difference: • Blunt face • Small eyes • Large ears • Hairy tail

8. Rodents: Squirrels • Divided into two groups: • Tree Squirrels • Spend their times in trees • Live in forested areas • Depend on trees for food and shelter • Excellent climbers • Make nests in trees • Smaller litters of young than ground squirrels • Occasionally multiple liters per year • Store food during the summer and are active during the winter. • Ground Squirrels • Live in burrows in the ground • Will eat carcasses of road kill • Large litters in spring • Pray to many different animals • Hibernate during winter months • Depend on fat reserves for nutrition • Primary consumers • Plant material • Bird eggs • Young birds

9. Marmots and Prairie Dogs • Live in flatlands, prairies, rolling hills and high alpine meadows. • Burrowing animals- build underground dens lined with dry grass • Herbivores • Hibernate during winter

10. Marmots • Communicate- warn of danger and challenge rivals with a shrill whistle • Bits off green vegetation, lets it dry in the sun and then uses it as beding materials and emergency supply of food. • Live in areas where water is limited and are able to obtain enough water from plants. Click Click

11. Prairie Dogs • Similar behavior to marmots • Five species of prairie dogs in North America • Tail is covered with hair • Active during the day • Diet: grasses, vegetation insects (grasshoppers) • Store food during summer for winter supplies

12. Porcupines • Sharp quills used to defend itself against its enemies. • It cannot throw its quills • Quills can be imbedded into the flesh of other animals • Predators avoid quills by flipping the animal over and attack the unprotected throat and belly • Cause damage to trees and shrubs due to gnawing the buds and bark for food • Attracted to salt

13. Gophers • Pocket Gophers spend their lives alone in underground tunnels • Eat roots of plants • During the night they gather grasses and other plants that are eaten or carried for storage • Carry food in cheek pouches in mouth • Come out of tunnels to find a mate • Mounds near entrance of tunnels resulting on excavated dirt.

14. Beavers • Largest rodent found in North America • Lives in tunnels constructed in the banks of streams or inside lodges constructed in ponds • Feeds on bark of willows and other trees • Constructs dams from trees it cuts down • Their construction can create water blockages that create ponds.

15. Lagomorphs: Rabbits, Hares, and Pikas • Not rodents, but still are gnawing mammals • Once were classified as rodents because of their large incisors, but it was discovered that they had another set of incisors behind their first pair. • Occupy most of the North American ecosystems • Evergreen/hardwood forests • Plains • Deserts • Tundra • Marshes

16. Differences between Rabbits, Hares and Pikas • Hares have longer hind legs and longer, wider ears than rabbits. • Hares: Offspring born with a full coat of fur and eyes open at birth. • Rabbits: born without hair and eyes are closed for several days • Pikas: Short legs, ears and no visible tail.

17. Rabbits • Make grass nests for their young and line them with fur pulled from the females sides and belly • Some build nests in underground holes or in depressions in the ground • Young rabbits open their eyes by 2 weeks and are helpless for about a month

18. Hares • Fast, more mobile than rabbits • Live in wide open spaces • Acute hearing

19. Pop Quiz • What 3 characteristics make an animal a mammal? • What order are rabbits in? • List 5 animals that consume rodents. • Why are rodents considered to be pests? • Which group of squirrels hibernate? • Describe the damage porcupines do to trees. • What are 2 other names for woodchuck? • Which rodent construction creates small ponds? • Do rabbits have hair when born? • What is the one species of hare found in CT?

20. Pop Quiz Answers • What 3 characteristics make an animal a mammal? Lactation, Hair, Endothermic • What order are rabbits in? Lagomorpha • List 5 animals that consume rodents. • Why are rodents considered to be pests? Chew wires, crops and spread diseases • Which group of squirrels hibernate? Ground • Describe the damage porcupines do to trees. Girdle the tree • What are 2 other names for woodchuck? Groundhog, Marmot, Whistling Pig • Which rodent construction creates small ponds? Beavers Dams • Do rabbits have hair when born? No, not until 1 month • What is the one species of hare found in CT? Snow Shoe Hare • Hawks • Owls • Skunks • Fox • Coyotes • Bobcats • Lynx • Mink • Weasels • Shrews • Snakes • Small Reptiles • Bears

21. Order: Carnivora • Family: Felidae- Mountain lion, bobcat • Family: Canidae- Wolves, coyotes, foxes • Family: Ursidae- Bears • Family: Procyonidae- Racoon • Family: Mustelidae- Badger, Weasels, Skunks, Otters • Family: Otariidae- Eared seals (fur seals, sea lions) • Family: Phocidae- earless seals (Harbor Seals, Elephant Seals)

22. Carnivora • Over 260 species in the world • "Carnivora" comes from the Latin words carō, meaning "flesh," and vorāre, meaning "to devour," and thus means "to devour flesh." • Carnivores in general get most of their food by killing and eating other animals. • Many are omnivores and get a large part of their nutrition from plant foods.

23. Teeth: • Large canines and carnassials • Molars are blade-like and more suited for cutting than grinding • Can not move their lower jaws from side to side but can only open and close their mouths.

24. Legs • Aquatic pinnipeds have both front and hind limbs in the form of flippers • Carnivores walk on all four legs • Some walk on their toes • Some walk on the flat of the feet

25. Body • Covered with thick fur. • Almost all carnivores have tails • Used in various ways by different species. • Some species have a prehensile tail • Prehensile: adapted for seizing, grasping, or taking hold of something A bearcat is a mammal from Malaysia, also called a binturong. Bearcats have prehensile tails. Click

26. Breeding • Most carnivores bear young once a year • From 1-16 young • Young are born small and helpless and are looked after for a fairly long time by their mothers. • In most cases, this includes time for learning hunting and other life skills.

27. Scent • All carnivores have scent glands in their anal regions. • The secretions from these are often used to mark territories. • In skunks and some others, they are used as a defensive weapon

28. Family: Felidae- Mountain lion, bobcat • Feliformia (cat-like) • About 41 species • Hunted and trapped • Sport • Fur • Many species endangered due to habitat loss and unregulated hunting • Diet is mostly meat • Walk on four feet, in a digitigrade manner • Digitigrade: on their toes

29. Felidae • Claws on their feet that are used for: • Gripping prey • Fighting • Climbing • Claws can be retracted into the toes, which helps keep them sharp, in all cats except: • Cheetah (Acinonyxjubatus) • Fishing cat (Prionailurusviverrinus) • Flat-headed cat (Prionailurusplaniceps)

30. Felidae • Bodies are covered with fur • Most cats have a long fur-covered tail • Tail is used for: • balance in running and leaping • Sometimes for warmth • Cats have very keen senses, especially their vision. • Their eyes are large and are well suited for seeing in low levels of light. • Most cats hunt at night or in the late evening and early morning. • They can not see in total darkness.

31. Felidae • Cats live most of their lives alone • Exception: Lions • Male and female cats come together to mate • Most species -once a year. • The young are born in litters of one to six. • Young are cared for by their mother for several months • Until they are mature and experienced enough to live on their own.

32. Felidae Mountain Lion Felisconcolor Bobcat Lynx rufus

33. Felidae Canada Lynx Lynx canadensis Ocelot Felispardalis

34. Felidae Jaguar Felisonca

35. Family: Canidae- Wolves, coyotes, foxes • Caniformia (dog-like) • Often are viewed as a threat to domestic animals or people • Hunted, trapped, and poisoned. • Fur • Sport

36. Family: Canidae- Wolves, coyotes, foxes • Excellent sense: • Smell • Hearing • Diet • Mainly meat • Scavengers • Some eat plant matter in addition to diet • Digitigrade • Claws are blunt and used for traction. • Social –live in groups

37. Family: Canidae- Wolves, coyotes, foxes • Most give birth once a year • 1-16 young • Young are helpless and need parental care for about a year • Kept in den’s for warmth and protection • Parents bring solid foods back to the den after they are weaned before they are ready to hunt.

38. Canidae Coyote Canislatrans Gray wolf (aka Timber wolf) Canis lupus

39. Canidae Red wolf Canisniger Red fox Vulpesfulva

40. Canidae Swift fox Vulpesvelox Kit fox Vulpesmacrotis

41. Canidae Arctic fox Alopexlagopus Gray fox Urocyoncinereoargenteus

42. Family: Ursidae- Bears • Largest living carnivores • Arctic coasts to tropical jungles • Decedents of dog family • Plantigrade feet – walks on whole paw • Non-retractile claws • Feed on a mixture of flesh and vegetable matter

43. Ursidae Black bear Ursusamericanus Grizzly bear Ursushorribilis

44. Ursidae Alaskan brown bear Kodiak bear Big brown bear Ursusmiddendorffi Polar bear Thalarctosmaritimus

45. Ursidae Giant panda Ailuropodamelanoleuco

46. Family: Procyonidae- Racoon • Family contains the ring-tailed cat, cacomistle, raccoon, coatimundi, mountain coati, kinkajou, andolingo olingo ring-tailed cat cacomistle kinkajou coatimundi mountain coati

47. Procyonidae • 6 genera and 18 species • Small to medium-sized • Long to moderately long tails with dark rings • Obvious facial markings • Non-retractable claws • Omnivorous diet • Most active during the evening and early night; crepuscular to nocturnal

48. Procyonidae • Plantigrade or semi-plantigrade • Extremely agile • Tree climbing • Dexterous hands • Excellent swimmers

49. Procyonidae Coati Nasaunarica • Ranges from extreme southern Arizona, New Mexico and Texas

50. Procyonidae Raccoon Procyonlotor Ringtail Bassariscusastutus