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What animals are considered mammals? – Mammals 4 Kids

Mammals (Latin: Mammalia) include humans and all other animals that feed their young with milk. Most mammals are covered with fur and have specialized teeth that help them cut or chew food. Compared to other vertebrates (vertebrates have backbones), mammals have a more well-developed brain than other types of animals. Besides humans, mammals include some of the most famous members of the animal kingdom, such as cats, dogs, elephants, and whales.
Mammals breastfeed their young and this is their main feature. Mammalian young are born already formed. Before birth, the young develop in their mother's stomach. It feeds in the uterus via the placenta. The umbilical cord connects it to the placenta through which large blood vessels pass, brings food from the mother, and takes away the waste. The time it takes a young to grow up in a mother's body is called pregnancy and does not last equally for every mammal. When born, the young is a faithful image of his parents.

Do mammals have other characteristics?

So far, we have seen two: a young is born formed and sucks milk from his mother.
On top of that, most mammals, except for whales and dolphins, have skin covered with hair. The skin of bats, the only mammals that fly, is oily. Mammals have important glands, such as sweat, saliva, etc.
Mammals also excel at constant body temperature. They are called "warm-blooded." The temperature ranges from about 35° C to 39° C (for rabbits and cattle).

Other important features: 

  • They need air and breathe (the mammals that live in the water from time to time come to the surface to take in the air). 
  • Their central nervous system has been developed. 
  • They have venous and arterial blood.

How are mammals different from other animals?

Mammals are warm-blooded. It is thanks to the heart. Blood helps to regulate heat. The mammalian heart consists of two atria and two chambers, completely separate. In most mammals, the brain is well developed. That's why we come across highly intelligent species, such as anthropoid apes and dolphins.

Mammals are also characterized by the specificity of their food-dependent teeth. Some change their teeth only once, in others their teeth grow without interruption.
All mammals have joints by which one or more bones bind to each other, creating one movable whole. The bones are firm and hard, which is why there can be very large animals. Many mammals have seven vertebrae each, which forms the spinal column. Sloths (family of South American mammals) and sea cows make an exception because they have more. Reptiles and birds have many more.

Where do mammals live?

Mammals exist in all parts of the world. Areas, where only certain species of mammals live, can't be accurately identified.
Most of mammals live on dry land, but others like moles and some kind of mice live in the ground. Representatives of individual ranks live in the water and they come to the ground to fetch the cubs or rest, but seek their food in the water. Whales don’t go on land since this would mean death for them and their young are born in water.
Other mammals like bats, for example, can fly.
Flying marsupials  (flying squirrels, for example) have flying skin between the front and rear limbs thus can glide from one tree to another.
Once upon a time, lions and bears lived in Europe, and the tiger is not exactly a tropical animal. It could also be found in the north of the European part of Russia. Studying the habitat zones, we see that only the biggest obstacles prevented mammals from spreading everywhere. These are high mountains (like the Himalayas), oceans, deserts (like the Sahara) and climate.

How do mammals adapt to their environment?

If we analyze their classification, we will notice that this group of animals is very different from one another according to their diet. Some eat meat and other grass for example.
Mammals who feed on insects have pointed teeth so they can pierce the insect's armor.
Carnivores must have pointed molars in order to tear their victim's flesh. In contrast, herbivores have molars adapted for grazing.

The hedgehog feeds on insects. With its muzzle it looks for food under the leaves and moss. It gets out at night. Hedgehogs have spines instead fur. In addition, their body is wrapped in a single circular muscle. If the hedgehog is threatened, this muscle shrinks and the animal becomes a spiny ball. Even the fox will escape. In winter, hedgehogs sleep in sheltered places. The heat of their body goes down several degrees above zero. If the weather gets colder, they wake up to keep the warmth.
The hedgehog feeds on insects. With its muzzle, it looks for food under the leaves and moss. It gets out at night. Hedgehogs have spines instead of fur. In addition, their body is wrapped in a single circular muscle. If the hedgehog is threatened, this muscle shrinks and the animal becomes a spiny ball. Even the fox will escape. In winter, hedgehogs sleep in sheltered places. The heat of their body goes down several degrees above zero. If the weather gets colder, they wake up to keep the warmth.

Some have long sticky tongues that serve them to catch ants and termites.
Nutrition that determines lifestyle requires adjusting the teeth, legs, and senses.
The Asian tiger, African lion and leopard, and American puma have many similarities, as do the Asian buffalo, the European bison and the Cape buffalo in Africa. This is because animals eat the same type of food and tend to adopt the same way.
Mammals living in water adapt otherwise. Their body is aerodynamic, and the limbs have turned into fins that house the limb skeleton. They are clumsy on earth because water is the environment in which they live. The glands in their skin are very important because they maintain body heat. Those mammals that live underwater can close their nostrils.
Whales have nostrils on the upper side of the head.

The rabbit is a rodent with big ears and a small tail. Its anterior, upper and lower teeth are long and chiseled; they grow constantly because they are spent while rabbit feeds itself. Rabbits live in underground habitats. They go out at dusk to feed on roots and grass. They originate from the Mediterranean area and are very fertile.
The rabbit is a rodent with big ears and a small tail. Its anterior, upper and lower teeth are long and chiseled; they grow constantly because they are spent while rabbit feeds itself. Rabbits live in underground habitats. They go out at dusk to feed on roots and grass. They originate from the Mediterranean area and are very fertile.

We will understand better what adaptation is by studying the same animal species under different climatic conditions. If we analyze for example three types of foxes: in the North, we find a polar fox with small ears; the foxes in Europe have bigger ears and the desert fox has very big ears. Why this different size? This is one way to regulate body temperature.
It should be known that two species of the same family, which feed differently, they also adapt differently.
The white rhino has a long neck since it grazes the grass. The black rhino has a shorter neck since it eats leaves from the bushes.
There is another adjustment to the color and patterns of the fur. It's hard to spot a tiger in nature because of its striped fur. It is similar to deer moving in the forest. Cubs (smaller in size) often have different fur than adults. Wild pigs also have striped fur, and many more examples can be found.
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