Mammal �Classes and Orders

Class of Monotremes

• Egg layers
• Only six species of monotremes
• Cannot control body temperature as well as other mammals.
• Duckbilled platypus—live in a burrow, flat beaver like tail, webbed feet, eats shellfish, insects, and worms in the muddy bottoms of lakes/streams
• Echidnas or spiny anteaters—live in forests, mountains and plains of Australia. Long snout, thick coat of hair and spines. When threatened it burrows so only spines show.

Class of Marsupials

• Pouched mammals
• Kangaroos are herbivores, can hop 8 meters in one hop, koalas eat the leaves of eucalyptus trees
• Opossums are the only marsupial in North America, the others live in Australia
• Active at night, eat insects, birds and small mammals.
• When born, marsupials will crawl into mother’s pouch to finish growing.

Placental Mammals�

• Can be broken down into eighteen orders.
• 95% of all mammals are placental.
• They reproduce differently than monotremes/marsupials.
• They have a higher metabolic rates than other mammals.

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Order Insectavora

• Insect eaters
• Tree shrews, hedgehogs, shrews, and moles.
• Very high metabolic rates, eat constantly.
• Sharp claws for digging.

Order Chiroptera

• Bats—second largest order, 925 species.
• One quarter of all mammal species.
• Eat all kinds of things, insects, fruit, blood (vampire bats)
• Night bats use echolocation to find food.
• Many bats live in colonies, sleeping together upside down with wings wrapped around their body.

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Order Edentata

• Means without teeth
• Sloths, anteaters, armadillos
• Sloth--slow-moving, nocturnal mammal that spends most of its life hanging upside-down in trees.
• The sloth is an herbivore. The sloth's main defense against predators is to claw and nip at an attacker.
• Armadillo are timid, armored mammals Armadillos can jump 3 ft straight up into the air. Armadillos have peg-like teeth.
• Anteaters are good swimmers and tree climbers. �The anteater very long, thin tongue. Anteaters walk on their knuckles; they have long, hook-like claws that do not retract, but curve under the paws when the anteater walks. They catch insects using their long tongue, flicking the tongue in and out up to 160 times each minute. ���

Order Rodentia

• Largest Order of Mammals, more than 1700 species
• Mice, rats, squirrels, beavers, porcupines, chipmunks and gophers
• Have two long front teeth, used for chewing. They grow throughout their life.
• Herbivores
• Short gestation periods

Order Lagomorpha

• Rabbits, pikas and hares
• Consists of 65 species
• Sharp front teeth
• Eat plant material
• Short gestation period, produce a lot of young
• Pikas have rounded ears and legs of equal length.

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Order Carnivora

• Meat eaters—exception Panda Bear
• 240 species
• Cats, dogs, wolves, bears, weasels, hyenas, lions, coyotes and seals
• Sharp teeth and claws
• Strongest and most intelligent groups of mammals

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Order Carnivora�Suborder Pinnipeds

• Walruses, sea lions, otters, and seals
• Swimmers
• Thick layer of fat
• Return to land to reproduce

Order Cetacea

• Aquatic Mammals: whales, dolphins, and porpoises
• Torpedo shaped body with a long pointed head and no neck
• No gills but have lungs and circulatory system designed for deep, long dives
• Subcutaneous fat—blubber, for warmth.
• Lost both their external ears and their hind legs
• Bear young in water
• Most are carnivores, some are plankton eaters.

Order Sirenia

• Related to the elephant
• Slow moving, barrel shaped body
• Herbivores
• Live in rivers and streams, some in ocean
• Manatee, sea cow, dugongs
• Inspired legends about mermaids

Ungulates�Order Artiodactyla

• Grazing animals
• Cattle, sheep, goats, hippos, giraffes, and pigs.
• Two toes on the foot, known as even toed ungulates (hoofed mammal)
• Flat teeth for grinding food
• Have rumen, special structure for to break down cellulose.

Ungulates�Order Perissodactyla

• Horses, zebras, tapirs, and rhinoceroses
• Odd toed ungulates
• Grazers
• Flat teeth for grinding food
• Have rumen, special structure for to break down cellulose.

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Order Proboscidea

• Include the African and Indian elephant
• African elephant is larger and taller and has larger ears than does the Indian (Asian) elephant.
• Large head broad flat ears, thick skin with little hair
• Boneless trunk transfers food and water to mouth
• Tusks dig up plant roots or pry bark
• Herbivores

Order Primates

• 175 species
• Have an opposable thumb –enables them to grasp branches and other objects.
• Large eyes that face forward
• Omnivores
• Most developed cerebrum and the most complicated behaviors.
• Live in organized social groups.

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Order Primates

• New World Monkeys—live in trees and have long arms for swinging and have prehensile tails that they use for grasping
• Old World Monkeys—Chimps, gorillas: lack tail and many still enjoy the trees. Humans are also considered in this group.

Scaly Anteater

Last three:

Aardvark

Hyrax

Scaly Anteater

Odd Orders

• Order Tubulidentata—aardvarks "Earth pig" It is solitary, shy, nocturnal animal. Aardvarks are 5 to 6 feet (1.5 to 1.8 m) long, including a 2 foot (0.6 m) long tail. They weigh about 140 pounds (64 kg).

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• Order Hyracoidea—Hyraxes, small shrew like animals—close relative to the elephant.

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• Order Pholidota—scaly anteater, covered with tough, protective scales made of keratin There are 7 species in parts of Africa and Southeast Asia. The long tail is prehensile (grasping); the pangolin can even hang from its tail. When in danger, the pangolin curls into a ball, protecting its soft belly and face. It may also hit an enemy with its tail or spray it with urine.
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