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Mammal Facts

Mammals include species, estimated at around 5,488, that are part of Class Mammalia. Mammals are not a particularly diverse class of animal, but do dominate many different ecosystems, with humans being the prime example. An aspect of the success of mammals is their range of environmental adaptations.
  1. Basic Description

    • There are several different features that tend to differentiate mammals from other animals, including teeth. Mammals have several different kinds of teeth, which allows for more efficient processing of food. Another key feature of the Mammalia class is control of body temperature, or warm-blooded bodies, which is part of the reason mammals can adapt to so many different environments. Mammals also have large brains, relative to other kinds of animals, especially in proportion to their body size.

    History

    • Mammals evolved alongside the dinosaurs, but the dinosaurs dominated the ecosystems of the Mesozoic era. The most abundant mammals were small, nocturnal and fed mostly on insects to survive. It would not be until the end of the Mesozoic, and the extinction of the dinosaurs, that the mammals began to thrive. The Cenozoic era, which came after the Mesozoic, was the era in which mammals began to become larger and to dominate ecosystems, as the dinosaurs had previously done.

    Distribution

    • Within the Mammalia class there are many different orders, but the most populace by far is the Rodentia order, which is the order including rats, mice and beavers. The next most populace order is Chiroptera, which is home to bats, of which there are many different species. The third most populace order is Soricomorpha, which includes shrews and moles. The fourth largest is Primates, which is the order humans belong to.

    Humans

    • Human beings, which belong to the Mammalia class, have become the dominant animal on the planet. The unique physiological features of human beings have allowed them to spread to a diverse number of ecosystems. Features, such as large brains, have allowed them to increase their intelligence and develop tools and technologies to help them in their environment. Humans dominate the ecosystem to a degree which no other single species has.


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