2. What is Mammals?
Mammals are a group of vertebrate animals
constituting the class Mammalia, and
characterized by the presence of mammary
glands which in females produce milk for feeding
their young, a neocortex, fur or hair, and three
middle ear bones.
3. Mammals include humans
and all other animals that
are warm-blooded
vertebrates (vertebrates
have backbones) with hair.
They feed their young with
milk and have a more well-
developed brain than other
types of animals.
4. An animal is considered a
mammal if it can produce milk.
Other features unique to
mammals include hair or fur
(chemically different from hairlike
structures on non-mammals); the
malleus, incus, and stapes in the
ear; and a diaphragm
separating the heart and lungs
from the abdomen. Also,
mammals lack nuclei in mature
red blood cells.
5. How many species of mammals are there?
It is estimated that there are more than 5,500
living mammal species. Mammals are
incredibly diverse and can be found in every
major habitat.
6. What did mammals evolve from?
Mammals evolved from a group of
reptiles called therapsids, which lived
from 299 million to 200 million years
ago. Therapsids were quadrupedal
and had such mammalian features as
specialized tooth structures and an
opening in the temporal region of the
skull. They were most likely warm-
blooded.
7. Importance to Humans
Wild and domesticated mammals are
so interlocked with our political and
social history that it is impractical to
attempt to assess the relationship in
precise economic terms. Throughout
our own evolution, for example,
humans have depended on other
mammals for food and clothing.
Domestication of mammals helped to
provide a source of protein for ever-
increasing human populations and
provided means of transportation and
heavy work as well.
8. What is largest mammal in the world?
The Antarctic blue whale
(Balaenoptera musculus ssp.
Intermedia) is the biggest
animal on the planet,
weighing up to 400,000
pounds (approximately 33
elephants) and reaching up
to 98 feet in length.
Antarctic blue whale
9. What is world's smallest mammal?
It is found along the
Mediterranean coast and
southwards to Western Cape
province, South Africa. Kitti's
hog-nosed bat is 80 million
times lighter than the largest
mammal, the blue whale
Bumblebee bat
10. Importance of Mammals
Importance to Ecosystems. Mammals have
important roles in the food webs of practically every
ecosystem. Mammals are important members of
food chains and food webs, as grazers and
predators. Mammals can feed at various levels of
food chains, as herbivores, insectivores, carnivores
and omnivores.