Mammal

A female, mammal skunk, art by Dustmeat.

A female, mammal mousetaur. Art by Dustmeat

A mammal (from the Latin mamma [breast], also known as mammalian ["relating to or denoting a mammal creature"]), is a vertebrate animal of the class mammalia, and they are characterized by the presence of mammary glands, which in females produce milk for the nourishment of their young; the presence of hair or fur, and three middle ear bones. These characteristics distinguish them from reptiles and birds.

Description

The basic mammalian body type is quadruped, and most mammals use their four extremities for terrestrial locomotion, and for some, adaptation for life at sea, in the air, arboreal locomotion, underground, or on two legs.

They have endothermic (warm-blooded) bodies, and their brain regulates endothermic and circulatory systems, including a four-chambered heart. All modern mammals give birth to live young, except the five species of monotremes, which are egg-laying mammals. The most species-rich group of mammals, placentals, have a placenta which enables the feeding of the fetus during gestation.

The largest orders of mammals, by number of species, are the rodents, bats, and Eulipotyphla (including hedgehogs, moles, and shrews). The next three are the Primates (including humans, monkeys and lemurs), the even-toed Ungulates (including pigs, camels and whales), and the Carnivora (including cats, dogs and seals).

Mammal and furry

In the furry fandom, the term denotes a mammal, mammalian, or mammal-like character and/or person who generally identifies with such phenotype. As characters, this includes real (non-anthro) mammals, anthropomorphic mammals (two-legged, taurs, etc), fantasy mammals, and other mammal variants.

See also

• Mammal on Wikipedia
• Mammal characters

External links

• Mammal and mammalian search results in DeviantArt
• Mammal and mammalian search results in Fur Affinity

This stub about a term could be expanded.