Page 8 - Primary Six Notes

Mammals are warm-blooded animals that nurse their

young with milk and have fur or hair. Some examples of mam-

mals include humans, dolphins, giraffes, horses, and hyenas.

Characteristics of mammals

 Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates

 Have hair and fur on the body

 Have mammary glands

 Four chambered hearts

 They breathe through lungs

 Most of them give birth to live young ones.

Specific characteristics of mammals

 Their bodies are covered with fur

 They have mammary glands

 They feed their young ones on breast milk produced by the

mammary glands.

Groups of mammals

1. Primates (most advanced /fingered mammals)

2. Ungulates (hoofed mammals)

3. Carnivorous mammals (flesh eaters)

4. Rodents (gnawing mammals)

5. Insectivorous (insect eaters)

6. Pouched mammals (marsupials)

7. Flying mammals (chiroptera)

8. Sea mammals (cetaceans)

9. Egg laying mammals (monotremes)