Mammals are the group of vertebrate animals which form the class

Mammalia. They have fur and a very precise kind of temperature regulation.
The females bear live young, and produce milk for the young. Parental care of
the young is universal among mammals, and it is essential because live birth
limits the number of ofspring.Humans, and many primates, are quite
diferent. They have a menstrual cycle. n this case, females are se!ually
receptive at any time, but only fertile when an ovum is released from an
ovary. n this case, the endometrium "if not needed for an fertilised egg# is
discarded. The endometrium is shed, and takes with it a certain amount of
blood. n this system, eggs are released from the ovaries mostly in the middle
of the cycle, away from the mentrual period. This ovulation is $concealed$,
meaning, it is not obvious when it occurs. This process, so it is thought, tends
to keep the male and female together, which is unusual in mammals with the
oestrous cycle.
%ne diagnostic feature is the lower &aw which, unlike earlier forms, is
composed of a single bone, the dentary. This is one feature which can be
seen in fossils, or at least those which are complete enough to have the lower
&aw. Mammals have three little bones in their inner ear, the ear ossicles. The
ear ossicles are bones which were, long ago, part of the lower &aw in early
proto'mammals.
There are quite a number of other features, particularly in the skull and limbs,
so that it is usually possible identify and describe a mammal from its skeleton
alone.
There are about () characters which are typical of mammals, and some of
the most important are discussed above. * few more e!amples will make it
clear that mamals are very diferent from reptiles and birds+
,weat glands
Tooth replacement+ two sets, and no continuous replacement. -namel on the
tooth surface. .eptile teeth all alike/ mammal teeth follow a pattern "incisors,
canines, premolars and molars#
%ccipital condyles. Two knobs at the base of the skull 0t into the topmost
neck vertebra/ most tetrapods, in contrast, have only one such knob
%utlet for foodwaste separate from urinogenital outlet. .eptiles and birds
have a common cloaca at the rear
Mammals e!crete urea/ reptiles and birds e!crete uric acid
1olour vision is defective or absent in most mammals "primates are the
e!ception#
n reptiles and birds the blood vessel which carries o!ygenated blood from
the left ventricle of the heart lies on the right side of the body/ but in
mammals it lies on the left side.234
There are many features of the skeleton that mammals share
Their neck always has seven vertebrae, no matter how long it is.
Their lower &aw is made of &ust a single bone on each side, the dentary.
Their inner ear has three tiny bones, the malleus, incus and stapes.
n the language of cladistics, these () unique characters are apomorphies
which prove that mammals are a clade descended from a common ancestor.
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