To understand mammals, it first helps to understand how they fit into the classification system of all animals. Mammals, as a group of animals, belong to the Class Mammalia. The Class Mammalia, in turn, belongs to the larger group known as the vertebrates (animals with backbones; also called the Phylum Chordata). Other classes in the Phylumn Chordata include fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and birds.
Looking within the Class Mammmalia, we can subdivide mammals into smaller groups (known as orders). Although scientists differ on the number of orders that exist within the Class Mammalia, the list below summarizes one possible approach to their classification:
- Monotremata (egg-laying marsupials) platypus
- Marsupialia (marsupials)
- Insectivora (insectivores) hedgehogs
- Chiroptera (bats)
- Dermoptera (flying lemurs)
- Macroscelidea (elephant shrews) wha...
- Scandentia (tree shrews)
- Primates (primates)
- Xenarthra (anteaters and relatives)
- Pholidota (pangolins)
- Lagomorpha (rabbits, hares, and pikas)
- Rodentia (rodents) two suborders: squirrel-like and mouse-like
- Cetacea (cetaceans)
- Carnivora (carnivores)
- Pinnipedea (seals and sea lions)
- Proboscidea (elephants)
- Tubulidentata (aardvark)
- Hyracoidea (hydraxes)
- Sirenia (dugongs and manatees)
- Perissodactyla (odd-toed hoofed mammals) horses
- Artiodactyla (even-toed hoofed mammals) giraffes
The even-toed hoofed mammals include animals such as pigs, boars, hippos, camels, llama, deer, elk, pronghorn, giraffe, okapi, yak, and American bison.
two sub-orders of rodents:
Squirrels and their relatives belong to the Suborder Sciuromorpha: squirrels, beavers, chipmunks, marmots, prairie dogs, gophers...
Mouselike rodents belong to the Suborder Myomorpha: mice, rats, voles, lemmings, hamsters, gerbils, jerboas...
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