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MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS

One major characteristic of mammals is that all 

mammals have a vertebrate. They all are 

endothermic which means they are warm blooded. 

Most have hair (or fur) on their bodies and last but 

not least all mammals give birth to live young.

Smaller groups

Mammals are divided into smaller groups. One 

is called prototheria which is animals that lay 

eggs like the platypus. Another one is the 

marsupials. Marsupials are mammals that carry 

their young inside a pouch.There are over 270 

species of marsupials. The last one is eutheria 

which is made up of animals that have a fetus 

growing inside a placenta.

Exceptions to the rule

Not all mammals have the same characteristics. There 

are some mammals that don't follow the typical rules of 

what makes them a mammal. One of the animals is the 

tree pangolin because all mammals have hair when a 

pangolin has scales. Another animal would be the hog 

nosed bat because it lives in the air and most mammals 

live on land.The last ones are the blue whale and the 

dolphins because most mammals are land animals but 

these live in the ocean.

Food

There are many different kinds of mammals. But not all eat the 

same thing.Some of the mammals are herbivores which 

means they only eat plants and leaves.An example of a 

herbivore could be an: african elephant , a giraffe and the giant 

panda.Then there are the carnivores which eat only small 

animals such as worms, ants and many other small animals. 

Here are some carnivores: jaguars, polar bears and the 

dhole.Then there are animals that eat both leaves and animals 

such as: the honey badger.    

Babies

Every mammal has babies including 

humans.But for animals it depends on 

their size. Small mammals have many 

litters per year because their babies are 

smaller and will take less time to 

grow.While big mammals have less 

babies per year because it would take 

longer for the babies to grow.

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