Mammals
From anteaters to zebras, and even humans like you, mammals come in all shapes and sizes. However, all mammals feed their young with milk. Most mammals give birth to live young, and almost all have hair on their body. Only mammals have a lower jaw that is hinged directly to the skull. They also have specialized teeth, which means that they can bite, grip, tear, cut, chew, and grind their food. The planet’s largest animals belong to this group, including whales, elephants, and tigers.
Warm blood
Mammals have a constant body temperature. They produce their own heat to keep warm or sweat to cool down. This means they can be active whether conditions are hot or cold. They do this by generating their own heat when they are in a cooler environment, and by cooling themselves when they are in a hotter environment. To generate heat, warm-blooded animals convert the food that they eat into energy. They have to eat a lot of food, compared with cold-blooded animals, to maintain a constant body temperature. Only a small amount of the food that a warm-blooded animal eats is converted into body mass. The rest is used to fuel a constant body temperature.
Fur
Only mammals are covered in hair. Many hairs tightly packed together make fur. This protects the skin, and helps to keep the mammal warm and dry. Mammals are the only animals with true hair. Hairs 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.
Milk
Milk is a nutrient-rich, white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for infant mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Female mammals produce milk to feed their young. The babies suckle from their mothers to drink the milk, which is packed with all the nutrients they need.
Mammal facts
- Sea otters have the thickest fur of all mammals. An adult may be covered in 800 million hairs.
- Female elephants carry their baby for an incredible 22 months before they give birth.
- A common tenrec holds the record for the most young born in one litter. She had 32 babies. Tenrecs are small mammals that live in Madagascar.
- Blue whale babies are the largest on Earth. They weigh 2.5 tonnes (2.7 tons) when they are born.
- Hooded seal mothers produce milk that is more than 60 per cent fat. That is richer than ice cream.
Picture Credit : Google
