I.
Mammal classification
a. Mammals are one of the classes of vertebrates
b. All mammals share a series of common
characteristics
i. Internal body temperature control
ii.Mammary glands
iii.Live birth (few exceptions)
iv.Fused pelvic bone
v.Epidermis with hair
vi.Four-chambered heart muscular diaphragm
vii.Middle ear with three ossicles
viii.Two occipital condyles
II.
Mammal evolution
a. Amniotes came about during the late
carboniferous period, these were the ancestors of
all reptiles, birds and mammals
i. These diverged into three groups
1. Synapsids
2. Anapsids
3. Diapsids
ii. Synapsids
1. Where mammals arose from
2. Appeared in late Paleozoic era, 320 mya in North America
3. Dominant for 70 million years, passed peak before dinosaurs
appeared
4. Diverged into the pelycosaurs and therapsids
5. Therapsids are the “mammal-like reptiles”
iii.
Mammals in the Mesozoic
1. Small (mouse sized)
2. Rare
3. Most likely nocturnal
iv.Modern mammals
1. Appeared after the extinction of the dinosaurs
2. K-Pg extinction occurred ~66mya
a. Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction (K-T)
I.
Adaptive radiation and Diversity
a. Includes
i. 30 Orders
ii. 149 Families
iii.1,222 Genera
iv.5,413 Species
v. There are some orders with one family and several families with one
species, however the family Muridae has 730 species, the family
Vespertilionidae has 407 species of bats and 376 species of shrews in the
family Soricidae (2005)
 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/sep/13/newmammals-discovered-10-years
b. Found on every continent and in every biome on
Earth
c. Divided into two subclasses
d. Subclass Prototheria
i. Monotremes (egg layers)
ii. Marsupials (pouches)
e. Subclass Theria – true placental mammals
i. Afrosoricida, Erinaceomorpha, Soricomorpha,
Macroscelidea, Scandentia and Dermoptera
ii. Chiroptera
iii.Primates
iv.Xenarthra, Pholidota, and Tubulidentata
v. Carnivora
vi.Cetacea
vii.Rodentia and Lagomorpha
viii.Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, and Sirenia
ix.Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla
IV.
Mammal Orders
a. Order Artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed animals)
i. Hoofed animals with an even number of toes include
those that ruminate, or digest their food in fourchamber stomachs and chew cuds, and those that do
not ruminate.
1. Those that ruminate are the families
a. Girrafidae (giraffes)
b. Cervidae (deer, moose, reindeer, elk)
c. Antilocapridae (pronghorn, antelope)
d. Bovidae (cattle, bison, yaks, waterbucks, wildebeest,
gazelles, springboks, sheep, musk oxen, goats)
2.Nonruminators include the families
a. Suidae (pigs)
b. Tayassuidae (peccaries)
c. Hippopotamidae (hippopotamuses)
d. Camelidae (camels, llamas)
b. Order Carnivora (meat-eaters)
i. There are two suborders of these toe-footed creatures,
ii.Caniformia, characterized by long snouts and unretractable
claws
1. Canidae (wolves, dogs, jackals, foxes)
2. Ursidae (bears, giant pandas)
3. Procyonidae (coatis, raccoons, lesser pandas)
4. Mustelidae (martens, weasels, skunks, otters)
iii.Feliformia, have retractable claws
1. Felidae (cats, lions, cheetahs, leopards)
2. Hyaenidae (hyenas)
3. Viverridae (mongooses, civets)
c. Order Cetacea (whales and purpoises)
i. Two suborders of Order Cetacea are the toothed whales,
which have regular conical teeth
1. Toothed whales include the families:
a. Physeteridae (sperm whales)
b. Monodontidae (narwhals, belugas)
c. Phocoenidae (porpoises)
d. Delphinidae (dolphins, killer whales)
ii.The baleen, or whalebone, whales, which have irregular
whalebone surfaces instead of teeth.
1. Baleens include the families
a. Eschrichtiidae (gray whales)
b. Balaenidae (right whales)
c. Balaenoptridae (fin-backed whales, hump-backed whales)
d. Order Chiroptera (bats)
i. There are two suborders of bats, the only mammals
that can fly.
1. Suborder Megachiroptera contains one family
a. Pteropodidae (flying foxes, Old Worm fruit bats)
2. Suborder Microchiroptera contains 17 families, including:
a. Rhinopomatidae (mouse-tailed bats)
b. Emballonuridae (sheath tailed bats)
c. Craseonycteridae (hog-nosed or butterfly bats)
d. Noctilionidae (bulldog or fisherman bats)
e. Nycteridae (slit-faced bats)
f. Megadermatidae (false vampire bats)
g. Rhinolophidae (horseshoe bats)
h. Vespertilionidae (common bats)
e. Order Dermoptera (colugos or flying lemurs)
i. These gliding tree mammals from Asia do not fly and
are not lemurs, but they are known as flying lemurs, or
Family Cynocephalidae .
f. Order Edentata (toothless mammals)
i. Three families of mammals get by without teeth:
1. Dasypodidae (armadillos)
2. Bradypodidae (sloths)
3. Myrmecophagidae (hairy anteaters)
g. Order Hyracoidae (hyraxes, dassies)
i. Order Hyracoidae is one of three orders that has only
one modern family remaining. Procavia capensis (the
African rock hyrax) is one of nine living species in the
Family Procaviidae .
h. Order Insectivora (insect-eaters)
i. The three members are the families
1. Talpidae (moles)
2. Soricidae (shrews)
3. Erinaceidae (hedgehogs)
i. Order Lagomorpha (pikas, hares, and rabbits)
i. Two families make up this order:
1. Ochotonidae (pikas)
2. Leporidae (hares and rabbits of all sorts)
i.
Order Marsupialia (pouched animals)
i. Included among these are the families
1. Caenolestidae (rat opossums)
2. Diddeelphidae (true opossums)
3. Dasyuridae (native cats, native mice)
4. Notoryctidae (marsupial moles)
5. Myrmecobiidae (numbats)
6. Peramelidae (bandicoots)
7. Phalangeridae (koalas)
8. Vombatidae (wombats)
9. Macropodidae (kangaroos and wallabies)
j. Order Monotremata (egg-laying mammals)
i. These more primitive mammals make up the families
1. Tachyglossidae (echidnas, also called spiny anteaters)
2. Ornithorhynchidae (platypuses)
l.
Order Perissodactyla (odd-toed hoofed animals)
i. The two suborders, Hippomorpha and Ceratomorpha,
include creatures that have an odd number of toes.
1. Families in this order
a. Equidae (horses, donkeys, zebras)
b. Tapiridae (tapirs)
c. Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses)
m.Order Pholidata
i. Family Manidae (pangolins) is the
sole family in this order
n. Order Pinnipedia (seals and walruses) the fin
footed order
i. Otariidae (eared seals, sea lions)
ii.Odobenidae (walruses)
iii.Phocidae (earless seals)
o. Order Primates (primates)
i. The order to which people belong is divided into two
suborders:
1. The Prosimii , who have longer snouts than their relatives
a. The first group includes the families
i. Tupalidae (tree shrew)
ii. Lemuridae (lemurs)
iii.Daubentonlidae (aye-ayes)
iv.Lorisidae (lorises, pottos)
v. Tarsiidae (tarsiers)
2. The Anthropoidae .
a. The anthropoids include the families
i. Callitrichidae (marmosets)
ii. Cebidae (New World monkeys)
iii.Cercopithecidae (baboons, Old World monkeys)
iv.Hylobatidae (gibbons)
v. Pongidae (gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans)
vi.Hominidae (human beings)
p. Order Proboscidea (elephants)
i. Large enough to have an order all to itself is Family
Elephantidae .
q. Order Rodentia (gnawing mammals)
i. The most prolific mammals, Order Rodentia includes
three suborders. It takes in the families
1. Aplodontidae (mountain beavers)
2. Sciuridae (chipmunks, squirrels, marmots)
3. Cricetidae (field mice, lemmings, muskrats, hamsters, gerbils)
4. Muridae (Old World mice, rats)
5. Heteromyidae (New World mice)
6. Geomyidae (gophers)
7. Dipodidae (jerboas)
r. Order Sirenia (dugongs and manatees)
i. The families
1. Trichechidae (manatees)
2. Dugongidae (dugongs and other sea cows)
s. Order Tubulidentata (aardvarks)
i. Another mammal in an order by itself is Family
Orycteropodidae.