mammals learn all about these amazing creatures. by: alissa cattron

Mammals

Learn all about these amazing creatures.

By: Alissa Cattron

What Is A Mammal? Mammals are animals that have hair, are

warm-blooded, and nourish their young with milk.

Some modern-day mammals include people, apes, dogs, mice, elephants, pandas, and many more.

Types Of Mammals Monotremes: are primitive egg-laying

mammals. Marsupials: their young are born in an

extremely immature state. Placental mammals: their young are born

at an advanced state.

Monotremes Monotremes are the most primitive

mammals. These mammals lay eggs, after the babies hatch, the mothers nourish their young with milk. Today, monotremes only live in Australia and New Guinea.

Types of Monotremes There are three

species of monotremes:

The duck-billed platypus and two spiny anteaters.

This is a picture of a duck-billed platypus

Marsupials Marsupials are pouched mammals whose

babies are born in a very undeveloped state. The young attach themselves to their mother. Many marsupials have a pouch that encloses the young.

Marsupials evolved about 100 to 75 million years ago, during the time of the dinosaurs.

Types of Marsupials The biggest is the human

sized red kangaroo. The smallest is the

pilbara, it would fit in a persons hand.

Kangaroo, opossum, Tasmanian devil, and koala the most common.

The only marsupial in North America is the Virginia opossum.

Pictured is a kangaroo.

Placental Mammals Placental mammals are advanced mammals

whose young are born at an advanced stage.

Before birth the young are nourished through a placenta. The placenta is attached to the mother’s uterus and it delivers oxygen and nutrients to the young.

Most mammals are placental mammals.

Types of Placental Mammals There are almost

4,000 known species of placental mammals.

The most common: people, cats, dogs, and horses.

Mammal Diets Mammals have to eat a lot to maintain their

high body temperature. Diets vary from mammal to mammal. As with most animal groups, there are more herbivores (plant-eaters) than there are carnivores (meat-eaters).

The Different Types of Diets There are four types of diets that mammals

can have. They can be: Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores Insectivores

Herbivores Herbivores are plant

eaters. Some herbivores

include: beavers, cows, horses, pandas, sloths, and others.

Pictured are panda bears.

Carnivores Carnivores are meat

eaters. Some carnivores

include: whales and dolphins, dogs, tigers, lions, and others.

Baby Dolphin

Omnivores Omnivores eat both

plants and meat. Some omnivores

include: people, some bears, and others.

Grizzly Bear

Insectivores Insectivores eat

insects. Some insectivores

include: aardvarks, anteaters, and others.

Aardvark

Venomous Mammals Only a few mammals

are venomous. These mammals

include: male duckbilled platypus, several species of shrews, and the Solenodon (a small insectivore).

Haitain Solenodon

Mammal Extremes Here are some fun mammal facts. We are going find out what the fastest,

slowest and biggest mammals are. We will also learn what the smallest,

loudest and smelliest mammals are. Along with some other cool facts.

The Fastest Mammal The fastest mammal

(also the fastest land animal) it the Cheetah.

The cheetah runs between 60 and 70 miles per hour.

The Slowest Mammal The slowest mammal

is the sloth. The sloth moves less

than 1 mile per hour.

The Biggest Mammal The biggest mammal

also known as the biggest animal that ever lived on Earth is the blue whale.

The biggest land mammal is the African Elephant.

African Elephants

The Tallest Mammal The tallest

mammal is the giraffe.

The Smallest Mammals The smallest mammal

is the pygmy shrew and the bumblebee bat.

The pygmy shrew weighs between 1.2 and 2.7 grams.

The bumblebee bat weighs about 2 grams.

Pygmy Shrew

The Loudest Mammal The loudest mammal

is the blue whale. The second loudest is

the howler monkey. Pictured is a Black

Howler Monkey.

The Smelliest Mammal The smelliest

mammal is the striped skunk.

The Fattest Mammal The blue whale has

the thickest layer of blubber, but the ringed seal pups have the greatest percentage of fat (about 50%).

Ringed Seal Pup

More Mammal Facts There are about 5,000 species of living mammals You have learned that mammals are divided into

three subclasses: Monotremes, Marsupials, and Placental mammals.

Mammals unlike other animals have body hair, three middle ear bones, and nourish their young with milk that females produce.

What Did You Learn? Hopefully you have

learned a lot more about mammal.

I also hope that you found the facts interesting, like the biggest and smelliest mammal.

Do you now know what creature in the picture is not a mammal?

Test What You LearnedA Mammal Worksheet

The Answers To The Worksheet