All About MammalsMartha Plata

Mammals are one of the 6 main classes of animals. 

Animal classes are groups of animals that scientists consider to be alike in some important ways. 

Mammals are the animal class that people belong to.  

There are only about 4,000 kinds of mammals.

This sounds like a lot, but when you consider there are 21,000 kinds of fish and a whopping 800,000 kinds of insects you’ll realize mammals are a pretty small class!

Some ways mammals are alikeMammals are warm blooded

The temperature could be freezing cold…

or boiling hot

Mammals’ bodies are built to maintain just about the same temperature all the time.

Warm blood lets the mammals be very active and live in a wide variety of places.

Mammals are everywhere Polar bears live in very cold areas. Camels live in hot areas. Moles live under the ground. Bats live in caves and fly in the air. Dolphins live in the oceans.  Fur and fat help protect mammals who live in

the cold. Mammals sweat or pant to release extra heat

if they live somewhere toasty.

All mammals have fur or hair.Sometimes it's long

hair covers their entire body 

Sometimes it's very short hair or there are just a few strands.

Even mammals that swim under the water (like dolphins and whales) have hair. 

Though you would need a magnifying glass to see the fine hair on the lips of a young whale.

Mammals are the only animals with true hair. 

Hair are dead cords of a substance called keratin which is also what our fingernails are made from. 

The most important part is that hair is dead.

What looks like hair on a fly or a spider actually contains living parts of the animal. 

That means if you cut a spider's hair it would HURT! 

Mammal Babies: We all drink Milk!Most mammal babies live inside their

mothers before they are born, just like humans.

How many things can you see in common between this human baby and this kitty baby?

When the baby is big enough, it comes out of its mother’s body.

Many people mistakenly think that being born alive is something all mammals have in common.

There are, however, a few mammals (like the duckbilled platypus) who lay eggs like a bird!

Well, even though some baby mammals are born different ways, they all drink milk that comes from their mothers' bodies. Baby pigs, dolphins, bats and elephants all drink milk!

Because the babies rely on their mother's milk to live, the mammal mommies have to care for their young. 

The length of time varies from a few weeks for mice to many years for humans!

People have "baby teeth" or "milk teeth".  So do all of the other mammals!  The only

exceptions are mammals like anteaters -- they don't have any teeth at all.

Mammal mothers are hard workers. Baby mammals learn from their mothers. Most of the mothers don’t really try to teach

their babies, but the babies watch their mother and do the things they see her do.

Through copying their mothers, baby mammals learn everything they need to survive.

What do mammals eat when they grow up?They eat all sorts of different things! Lions are mammals who eat meat – they are

called carnivores. Cows are mammals who eat plants – they are

called herbivores. People are mammals who eat meat and plants

– they are called omnivores.

Mammals aren't spineless

Mammals are vertebrates, which means that they all have backbones (spines). 

Believe it or not, most animals don't have backbones -- mammals are one of the few groups that do.  

All mammals, except some sea cows and sloths have seven bones in their necks. 

This includes giraffes who have VERY long spines!  Their necks can be 6 1/2 feet long, but they're still made up of just seven bones.