What is a simple definition of a mammal?
mammal, (class Mammalia), any member of the group of vertebrate animals in which the young are nourished with milk from special mammary glands of the mother. Except for the monotremes (an egg-laying order of mammals comprising echidnas and the duck-billed platypus), all mammals are viviparous—they bear live young.
What is the scientific word for mammal?
Mammalia
Mammal/Scientific names
The word “mammal” is modern, from the scientific name Mammalia coined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, derived from the Latin mamma (“teat, pap”).
What is not a mammal?
Animals which lay eggs and do not give birth to the young ones are the Non- Mammals. They lack mammary glands and body hairs. Birds, Reptiles, Fish are the non-mammals. Animals which have backbones are called vertebrates. Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians are vertebrates.
What are the 5 main characteristics of mammals?
What five characteristics do mammals have in common? Mammals have hair or fur; are warm-blooded; most are born alive; the young are fed milk produced by the mother’s mammary glands; and they have a more complex brain than other animals. 2. How do mammals feed their young?
What are mammals answer?
A mammal is an animal that breathes air, has a backbone, and grows hair at some point during its life. In addition, all female mammals have glands that can produce milk. Mammals are among the most intelligent of all living creatures. Mammals include a wide variety of animals, from cats to humans to whales.
What is the best describes a mammal?
Definition of mammal : any of a class (Mammalia) of warm-blooded higher vertebrates (such as placentals, marsupials, or monotremes) that nourish their young with milk secreted by mammary glands, have the skin usually more or less covered with hair, and include humans.
What’s the difference between an animal and a mammal?
The main difference between animal and mammal is that the animal refers to any type of organism classified under kingdom Animalia whereas a mammal is a type of animal that has mammary glands and a body covered with fur.
Is a bird a mammal?
Birds are not mammals, but avians. Unlike mammals, they do not have fur or hair — instead, they have feathers, though sometimes they possess bristles on their heads or faces that resemble hair. Birds exclusively lay eggs. Some, like chickens, can even lay eggs without a male, but those eggs are infertile.
What is considered a mammal?
Kids Definition of mammal. : a warm-blooded animal (as a dog, mouse, bear, whale, or human being) with a backbone that feeds its young with milk produced by the mother and has skin usually more or less covered with hair.
What are the names of mammals?
There are around 5450 species of mammal, depending on which authority is cited. In some classifications, extant mammals are divided into two subclasses: the Prototheria, that is, the order Monotremata; and the Theria, or the infraclasses Metatheria and Eutheria.
What are three mammals?
The three types of mammals are the marsupials, the monotremes and the placental mammals. These groups are defined by the way in which their babies develop. The smallest mammal group is monotremes, which lay eggs.
What are facts about mammals?
Mammals are warm-blooded. Presence of hair and ability to give birth and feed the young ones with milk from the body are some features that make them unique. The presence of hair is the most important factor. At least a certain body portion of all mammals are covered with hair. Even the whales when born have a moustache.