Order Monotremata
Members of the Order Monotremata are the only mammals to lay eggs. They include the platypus and several species of echidnas.
Order Marsupialia
Mammals of the Order Marsupialia or 'marsupials' include kangaroos, possums, and bandicoots. They bear live young but are unique in that the young are born at a very early developmental stage after which they mature inside a pouch on the mother's abdomen.
Order Insectivora
Insectivores include hedgehogs, shrews, and moles. Insectivores are most active at night and feed primarily on insects, spiders, and worms.
Flying and Gliding Mammals
Bats and flying lemurs are among the mammals that have taken to a life in the air. Bats, with elongated forelimbs that provide wing structure, are the only group of mammals to posess true wings and the ability to fly. Flying lemurs are not truly able to fly, but instead glide for distances of 100 meters or more. They do so using a kite-like membrane (known as the patagium) that surrounds their body.
- Order Chiroptera: Bats belong to the Order Chiroptera. Bats are primarily nocturnal and many use a highly-specialized form of navigation called echolocation. Bats emit clicking sounds through the nose or mouth which reflects off of surrounding objects and is picked up by the bats super-sensitive ears. The bat is thus able to create a radar-like image of its surroundings.
- Order Dermoptera: Flying lemurs live in Southeast Asia in tropical rainforest habitats. They feed primarily on fruits and flowers. Habitat destruction and logging pose grave threats to many flying lemur populations.
Primates
Primates are a diverse group of mammals that include monkeys, apes, humans, and prosimians. The Order Primates has two suborders that together encompass about 356 species. Primates form complex social units and have highly-developed hands enabling them to grasp objects. For the sake of brevity, this course will focus only on non-human primates.
- Suborder Strepsirhini: Also known as the prosimians, this group of mammals includes lemurs, galagos, pottos, and lorises. These mammals often live in forests and are active primarily at night. Lemurs are found in Madagascar, galagos and pottos inhabit Africa, and lorises are found in Asia.
- Suborder Haplorhini: This group of mammals includes monkeys and apes. Monkeys can be divided into two groups, the Old World monkeys (baboons, langurs, colobus monkeys) and the New World monkeys (marmosets, spider monkeys). Apes are man's closes relatives. They form complex social groups and posess high intelligence. Apes are found in central Africa and in southern Asia.
Carnivores
Carnivores include mammals such as dogs, foxes, wolves, bears, racoons, hyenas, and cats. Although the term carnivore is used to refer to meat-eating animals, members of the Order Carnivora are not exclusively meat-eaters (some have mixed diets or herbivorous diets). Yet, most carnivores are well-suited for hunting. Many are fast, agile creatures with keen vision, hearing, and smell.
- Family Canidae: Dogs, foxes, wolves, coyotes, and jackals all belong to the family of mammals known as the canids. The most familiar member of this group, the domestic dog, descended from wolves over 10,000 years ago. Many canids are social creatures, forming packs, hunting together, and defending a common territory.
- Family Ursidae: The bear family includes eight species: the polar bear, American black bear, spectacled bear, giant panda, sloth bear, sun bear, brown bear, and Asiatic black bear. In general, bears feed on a mixed diet that includes insects, fish, and plants. The polar bear is unique in its eating habits though, feeding exclusively on meat.
- Family Felidae: The cats are muscular, agile hunters with sharp claws, acute vision, and specialized teeth. This family includes tigers, cheetahs, jaguars, leopards, lions, and of course, the domestic cat.
