Mammalian Orders Flashcards

Subclasses and Infraclasses of Mammals

• Subclass Theria: Comprises all live-bearing mammals.
• Infraclass Metatheria: Includes marsupials, where embryonic development occurs in pouches.
• Infraclass Eutheria: Encompasses placental mammals, giving birth to fully developed young.

Orders of Mammals

• Order Proboscidea: Characterized by elephants, known for their trunks, tusks, and loose skin.
• Order Sirenia: Comprises aquatic mammals like manatees and dugongs, having finlike forelimbs and elongated tails.
• Order Edentata: Includes anteaters, sloths, and armadillos, noted for their reduced or absent teeth.
• Order Carnivora: Features carnivorous mammals such as felines, canines, and pinnipeds, equipped with sharp teeth for flesh consumption.
• Order Artiodactyla: Contains even-toed ungulates like sheep, pigs, and deer.
• Order Cetacea: Encompasses marine mammals such as whales and dolphins with adaptations like blowholes and flukes.
• Order Perissodactyla: Known for odd-toed ungulates such as horses and rhinoceroses.
• Order Chiroptera: Includes bats, notable for their ability to fly and wings formed from skinfolds.
• Order Insectivora: Consists of insect-eating mammals like shrews and hedgehogs, though paraphyletic and split into smaller orders.
• Order Rodentia: Contains rodents like mice and squirrels, characterized by continuously growing incisors.
• Order Lagomorpha: Features rabbits and hares, equipped with strong hind legs for mobility and similar incisors as rodents.
• Order Primates: Comprises humans and apes, noted for opposable thumbs, forward-facing eyes, and advanced brain development.

Unique Subclasses and Orders

• Subclass Prototheria: Represents egg-laying mammals, specifically monotremes like platypuses and echidnas.
• Order Monotremata: Another designation for Prototheria, focusing on the same group of egg-laying mammals.
• Order Marsupialia: Another term for the Metatheria infraclass, encapsulating all marsupial species.