Mammals Index -- Exploring Nature Educational Resource

The Mammals (Class Mammalia) includes everything from mice to elephants, bats to whales and, of course, man. The amazing diversity of mammals is what has allowed them to live in...(Read more...)

The Mammals (Class Mammalia) includes everything from mice to elephants, bats to whales and, of course, man. The amazing diversity of mammals is what has allowed them to live in any habitat from desert to arctic to the deep ocean. They live in trees, they live on the ground, they live underground, and in caves. Some are active during the day (diurnal), while some are active at night (nocturnal) and some are just active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular). They live alone (solitary) or in great herds (gregarious). They mate for life (monogamous) or form harems (polygamous). They eat meat (carnivores), they eat plants (herbivores) and they eat both (omnivores). They fill every niche imaginable.

Mammals come in all shapes and sizes from the tiny pygmy shrew, weighing 1/10 of an ounce (2.8 grams), to the blue whale, weighing more than 300,000 pounds! They have a huge variation in life span from a small rodent living one year to an elephant living 70 years. Generally, the bigger the mammal, the longer the life span, except for bats, which are as small as rodents, but can live for up to 20 years.

Though huge variation exists in mammals, there are a few physical traits that unite them.
1) Mammals are covered with body hair (with the exception of marine mammals like dolphins and whales who have traded the benefits of body hair for better aerodynamics for traveling in water). Hair is important for keeping mammals warm in cold climates, protecting them from sunburn and scratches, and used to warn off others, like when a dog raises the hair on its neck. Sometimes hair is adapted as a protective tool like the spines on a porcupine or the shield on an armadillo or pangolin. Hairs can be used to feel for things, like the whiskers on a cat or sea lion or act as camouflage to blend into the mammal’s habitat.

2) Mammals have 3 middle ear bones called the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes (stirrup). They greatly improve a mammal’s hearing, which allows a better ability to communicate. Specifically, when sound waves hit the eardrum, these small bones transmit the vibrations from the eardrum (tympanic membrane) to the inner ear.

3) Female mammals have mammary glands that make milk to feed their young. The milk is full of fat and protein that helps young grow and develop, giving them a good start toward surviving to adulthood.

4) Mothers (and sometimes fathers) will protect young from predators and often live with them even after they are finished nursing to allow them to learn how to hunt, survive predation or be in a social group.

Some other traits of mammals:

5) Mammals have a backbone (vertebrae) with great leg mobility, making them an agile group of animals.

6) Mammals have specialized teeth with some for cutting, some for grabbing and tearing and some for crushing and grinding.

Mammal Classification:

The class of Mammalia is broken down into two smaller groups called subclasses* – Prototheria and Theria.

Subclass Prototheria are the monotremes (including the duck-billed platypus). They lay eggs, but they also nurse their hatching young.

Subclass Theria include two smaller groups called infraclasses – Metatheria and Eutheria.

Infraclass Metatheria are the marsupials with 7 orders, including kangaroos and koalas. They have their young very early and they crawl into the mother’s pouch in which the young continue to develop while they nurse.

Infraclass Eutheria are the placental mammals with 19 very diverse orders. They develop inside their mothers, who nurse and care for them after they are born live.

Class:           Mammalia
Subclass:    Prototheria    Theria
Infraclass:           Metatheria     Eutheria

*For more about how classification works, go to the section on classification (link here).

The 19 current orders of placental mammals (Eutheria) are:
1) Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates: antelope, deer, camels, wild pigs, wild cows, mt. sheep, hippos, etc.)
2) Carnivora canines (coyotes, foxes, wolves), cats (bobcats, lynx, mountain lion, tigers, lions) bears (black bears, panda, polar bear, grizzly, etc.), weasels, minks, otters and pinnipeds (seals and sea lions), etc.
3) Cetacea (whales, dolphins)
4) Chiroptera (bats)
5) Dermoptera (colugos or flying lemurs)
6) Edentata (Xenarthra) (toothless mammals –¬ armadillos, sloths), hairy anteaters
7) Hyracoidae (hyraxes, dassies)
8) Insectivora (insect-eaters: hedgehogs, moles, shrews)
9) Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, pikas)
10) Macroscelidea (elephant-shrews)
11) Perissodactyla (odd-toed ungulates: horses, rhinos, tapirs)
12) Pholidata (pangolins)
13) Pinnipedia (seals and walruses) are now considered in the carniovore class.
14) Primates (apes, monkeys, lemurs, people)
15) Proboscidea (elephants)
16) Rodentia (rodents: rats, mice, squirrels, chipmunks, beaver, gerbils, hamsters, etc.)
17) Scandentia (19 tree shrews)
18) Sirenia (dugongs and manatees)
19) Tubulidentata (aardvarks)

The 7 current orders of marsupials (Metatheria) are:
1) Dasyuromorphia (numbats, quolls, devils)
2) Didelphimorphia (opossums)
3) Diprotodontia (koala, wombats, cuscuses, kangaroos, wallabies, gliders, possums)
4) Microbiotheria (Ilaca)
5) Notoryctemorphia (marsupial mole)
6) Paucituberculata (rat opossums)
7) Peramelemorphia (bandicoots and bilbies)

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Agouti
Anteater (Giant)
Antelope (Addax)
Antelope (Saiga)
Armadillo (Nine Banded)
Aye Aye
Baboon (Olive)
Badger (American)
Bandicoot (Rabbit) or Bilby
Bat (Big Brown)
Bat (Big Free-tailed)
Bat (Eastern Pipistrelle)
Bat (Fruit)
Bat (Hoary)
Bat (Insect Eating) of North America
Bat (Little Brown)
Bat (Pallid)
Bat (Red)
Bat (Western Long-eared Myotis)
Bear (Black)
Bear (Grizzly)
Bear (Polar)
Beaver
Bighorn Sheep
Bison
Bobcat
Camel (Bactrian)
Camel (Dromedary)
Capybara
Caribou (Barren-ground)
Chamois Antelope
Cheetah
Chimpanzee
Chinchilla
Chipmunk (Eastern)
Clouded Leopard
Colugo
Coyote
Dall Sheep
Deer (Mule)
Deer (White-Tailed)
Dingo
Dolphin (Bottlenose)
Duiker (Blue)
Elephant (African)
Elephant (Asian) or Indian Elephant Asian
Elk (American)
Ferret (Black-footed)
Fisher
Fossa
Fox (Arctic)
Fox (Fennec)
Fox (Gray)
Fox (Kit)
Fox (Red)
Genet
Gerbil (Mongolian)
Gibbon (White-handed)
Giraffe
Gorilla
Guanacos
Hare (Arctic)
Hare (Snowshoe)
Hedgehog
Hippopotamus
Hyena (Spotted)
Ibex
Indri
Jackal (Golden)
Jackrabbit (Black-tailed)
Jackrabbit (White-tailed)
Jaguar
Kangaroo
Kangaroo Rat
Kangaroo Rat (Ord's)
Koala
Lemming (Brown)
Lemur (Black)
Lemur (Black-and-white Ruffed)
Lemur (Coquerel's Dwarf)
Lemur (Mouse)
Lemur (Red-fronted Brown)
Lemur (Red-ruffed)
Lemur (Ring Tailed)
Lemur (Weasel)
Leopard
Lion (African)
Llama
Lynx (Canadian)
Manatee (Florida)
Marmot (Bobak)
Marmot (Yellow-bellied)
Marten (American)
Mink
Monkey (Black and White Colobus)
Monkey (Diana)
Monkey (Golden Lion Tamarin)
Monkey (Mangabey)
Monkey (Spider)
Monkey (Squirrel)
Moose
Mountain Goat
Mountain Lion (Panther, Puma)
Mouse (Cactus)
Mouse (Deer)
Musk Ox
Muskrat
Narwhal
Okapi
Opossum
Orangutan
Otter (River)
Otter (Sea)
Panda (Giant)
Panda (Lesser or Red)
Pangolin
Pika (American)
Platypus (Duck-billed)
Polecat (Marbled)
Porcupine
Potto (Golden)
Prairie Dog (Black-tailed)
Prairie Dog (White-tailed)
Prairie Dogs (General Information)
Pronghorn Antelope
Rabbit (Cottontail)
Raccoon
Rat (Brown)
Rhinoceros (White)
Sea Lion (California)
Seal (Crabeater)
Seal (Harbor)
Seal (Harp)
Seal (Leopard)
Seal (Northern Fur)
Seal (Southern Elephant)
Seal (Weddell)
Shrew
Sifaka (Verreaux's)
Skunk (Eastern Spotted)
Skunk (Hooded)
Skunk (Striped)
Skunk (Western Spotted)
Sloth (Three-Toed)
Snow Leopard
Squirrel (Eastern Gray)
Squirrel (Northern Flying)
Squirrel (Red)
Tapir (Mountain, Baird's, Brazilian, Malayan)
Tenrec (Long-Tailed Shrew )
Tenrec (Tailess)
Tiger
Vicuna (Vicugna)
Vole (Meadow)
Wallaby (Agile)
Walrus
Warthog
Weasel (Long Tailed)
Weasel (Short Tailed) or (Ermine)
Whale (Beluga)
Whale (Blue)
Whale (Humpback)
Whale (Killer)
Wildebeest
Wolf (Arctic)
Wolf (Timber Wolf or Gray Wolf)
Wolverine
Wombat (Common)
Woodchuck
Yak
Zebra

Activities, Handouts and Teaching Aids
All About Mammals - Lecture
Animal Behavior Study for Kids -- Watching Squirrels
Animal Tracks Activity
Drawing Mammals - Activity
Matching Mammals to Their Family and Order
Word Search - Mammals
Carnivores Coloring Pages
Deer, Camels, Hippos, etc. (Even-Toed Hooved Mammals) Coloring Page
Madagascar Animals Labeling Page
Mammals Labeling Page
Mammals Labeling Page
Marsupials (Kangaroos, Koalas, etc.) Coloring Page
Moles, Shrews & Hedgehogs (Order Insectivores) Coloring Page
Primates Coloring Page
Seals and Sea Lions Coloring Page
Sloths, Anteaters & Armadillo (Toothless Mammals) Coloring Page
The Sharp Adaptation of Porcupines
Whales and Dolphins Coloring Page (Cetacea)
Whales and Dolphins Labeling Page
What Owls Eat -- The Bones of a Mouse
Zebras, Horses, Rhinos, Tapirs (Odd-toed Hooved Mammals) Coloring Page
Carnivore Flashcards
Matching Quiz - Match the Carnivore to its Family

National Science Standards for Animals (Wildlife)

3. Life Science Standards
Science subject matter focuses on the science facts, concepts, principles, theories, and models that are important for all students to know, understand, and use.
K-4 Characteristics of organisms, life cycles of organisms, organisms and environments.
5-8 Structure and function in living systems, reproduction and heredity, regulation and behavior, populations and ecosystems, diversity and adaptations of organisms.
9-12 The cell, molecular basis of heredity, biological evolution, interdependence of organisms, matter, energy, and organization in living systems, behavior of organisms.