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Earth’s Wonderful Mammals. Characteristics. All mammals are warm blooded, Most young are born alive, They have hair or fur on their bodies, Every mammal is a vertebrate, All mammals have lungs to breathe air, Mammals feed milk to their babies. Facts. Mammals are divided into 21 groups,
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Characteristics All mammals are warm blooded, Most young are born alive, They have hair or fur on their bodies, Every mammal is a vertebrate, All mammals have lungs to breathe air, Mammals feed milk to their babies.
Facts • Mammals are divided into 21 groups, • There are between 4,500 and 5,000 species of mammals, • The first mammals appeared approximately 200 million years ago during the Jurassic Period, • Mammals are tetra pods, • Mammals are warm-blooded, • And every mammal has hair
Habitat • For terrestrial mammals by far the most common habitat is forest. Shrub lands and grasslands are the next most favored habitats. Notably rocky areas and caves are quite common habitat preferences too, most notably for bats. The least favored habitats are those that are dry and arid. Interestingly, almost 1,500 species are tolerant of some kind of disturbed habitats. This tolerance to disturbance does not necessarily guarantee a species will not be threatened; even though the impact of habitat loss may be lessened, many of these species are still being heavily impacted by utilization.
What Do They Eat ? • There are different types of mammals like herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. Herbivores only eat plants and vegetables, whereas carnivores eat only meat and flesh, and omnivores eat both plants and meat.
How Do They Reproduce ? • All mammals reproduce sexually—sperm from the male fertilizes the female’s egg. In some mammal species, males establish breeding territories, where they put on displays for the females, showing that they are healthy and strong. In others, the males fight for the right to mate. Many male hoofed mammals have horns or antlers, which they crash or lock together in tests of strength.
Why Are Whales Considered as Mammals ? • Their body-core temperature stays the same, it does not change with the temperature of their environment. They breathe air with lungs. Unlike fish, whales do not remove oxygen from the water but breathe air directly. This means a whale must come to the surface of the water at regular intervals to breathe. Whale nostrils, called “blowholes,” are located on top of the head. When a whale “surfaces” it exhales the air from its lungs. This is called “blowing”. They give birth to live young. Mothers (called cows) suckle their young (calves), on milk secreted by mammary glands. They have hair. Although they are not covered in hair or fur like many mammals, whales have some bristles, usually on their heads.
Why Are Dolphins Considered as Mammals ? • Dolphins are warm-blooded animals, a characteristic of mammals. Like other mammals, dolphins have lungs, so they come to the surface every minute to breathe air through a nostril, called a blow hole. Newborn baby dolphin calves must breathe much more often.
MONOTREMES!(Applause)FACTS -Monotremes lay eggs instead of giving LIVE BIRTH! -Among these mammals include the PLATYPUS and ENHIDNAS(also known as Spiny Anteaters)
So, why are Monotremes (such as the platypus) considered Mammals? -Like other mammals -Monotremes are WARM-BLOODED and have hair on their bodies -A single lower jaw bone -have sweat glands -Produce milk from mammary glands- in the case of the Platypus, from openings in the skin rather than the more common, nipples.
MARSUPIALS -Marsupials live primarily in the southern hemisphere (e.g. Australia) Distinctive Characteristics: -Common to all marsupial species is that they give birth to relatively undeveloped young, that most often reside in the pouch of the mother for a certain time after birth.
Placental—last but not least • The most commonly well known group of mammals ranging from rats to whales to pigs to elephants! But, what do they all have in common? • THE ALL GIVE LIVE BIRTH TO FULLY DEVELOPED YOUNG.
