MAMMALIA

MAMMALIA.
MAMMALS are warm-blooded Vertebrate animals that nourish their young with milk secreted by the females in glands situated in pairs on the under surface of the body. All, with a very few exceptions (chiefly Cetacea), are covered with hair. The great majority pos¬sess teeth, and the higher forms are heterodont, or furnished with teeth of different kinds, and diphyodont, or bearing two sets—the first, known as milk or deciduous teeth, generally coming into use at birth or soon after, and being subsequently replaced by a second or permanent set. Most mammals possess two pairs of limbs like other normal vertebrates, and the terminal extremities of these limbs, with but few exceptions, are furnished with nails, claws, or hoofs. The thoracic cavity, containing the lungs, is completely separated by the diaphragm from the abdomen.
The class Mammalia is divided into the following subclasses:—
A.Oviparous, both genito-urinary passage and anus opening into a cloaca.
I. PROTOTHERIA, Ornithodelphia or Monotremata.
B.Viviparous, genito-urinary orifice external and distinct from anal*.
a.No allantoid placenta*.
II.METATHERIA, Didelphia or Marsupialia.
b.An allantoid placenta.
III.EUTHERIA, Monodelphia or Placentalia.
Of the subclasses the Prototheria or Monotremata are peculiar to the Australian region, whilst the Metatheria or Marsupialia are only found in the same region and in America (chiefly in South America). The Eutheria or Placentalia comprise, according to Professor Flower's latest classification, nine s, all represented in India. These s may be distinguished (so far, at all events, as Indian genera are concerned) by the characters shown in the following table : these characters are not always those of the greatest importance, but only those most easily recognized:—
Subclass BUTHERIA.
A. Posterior limbs present.
a.Animal not modified for flight.
a'. Incisors present in one or both jaws.
a". Incisors in front of the upper and lower jaw, either not two in number or not chisel-shaped. Feet terminating in distinct toes with claws or nails.
a4. Hallux or pollex or both opposable to other digits …………1.PRIMATES.
b4. Neither hallux nor pollex opposable.
aa. Upper lip in general not projecting far beyond lower; median pair smaller than other incisors…..……..2.CARNIVORA.
bb. Snout very pointed; upper lip projecting far beyond lower; median pair of incisors generally larger than the others……..…..3.INSECTIVORA.
b3. Feet either not terminating in distinct toes or furnished with hoofs or hoof-shaped nails……….….6.UNGULATA.
b". Two chisel-shaped incisors in front of each jaw……………5.RODENTIA.
V. No incisors, except in certain Armadillos; Indian forms toothless………..9.EDENTATA.
b. Animal modified for flight; fingers enormously developed to support a membranous wing…………… 4.CHIROPTERA.
B. No external posterior limbs; body
modified for swimming,
a. Homodont or toothless: breathingorifice generally on top of head; a back fin in most genera; mammae inguinal…………….7.CETACEA.
b. Indian form heterodont: breathingorifice at end of muzzle; no back fin; mammae pectoral…………….8.SIRENIA.

* The two open on a common outlet in some genera of Insectivora.
* For full details as to the significance of these characters in classification, consult Huxley's ' Introduction to the Classification of Animals,' p. 87, or Bal¬four's ' Comparative Embryology,' vol. ii. p. 176, or ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' article "Mammalia," pp. 369, 371, &c.

BookTitle: 
The Fauna of British India Including Ceylon And Burma
Reference: 
W. T. Blanford (1888-91)The Fauna of British India Including Ceylon And Burma - Taylor & Francis, London
Book Author: 
W. T. Blanford
Page No: 
1
Scientific name: 
Mammalia
Corrected Name: 
Mammalia
Term name: 
Wed, 2015-02-18 11:29 -- admin
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Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith