Mammalia
In brief
Hair and mammary glands that nourish young characterize mammals. Hair can be inconspicuous, as in whales. Their skeletal features include three middle-ear bones. Living mammals include monotremes, marsupials and placentals, so live birth is not a feature of every representative. A platypus lays eggs while still feeding its offspring milk. [2]
Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Where to check this statement
- biology55-S09
- Characteristics and living mammals: hair, milk, middle ear and reproductive diversity; species totals excluded.
Photographs and illustrations
Save, investigate and check this version
Editorial draft · human review pending
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Mammals: hair, milk and different developmental pathways
Reading this page
A class description cannot reconstruct a species' anatomy from one feature. Compare size using measurements with units, developmental stage and a source. Photographs without scale do not provide reliable quantitative comparisons.
Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Try it
Compare two available species. Find shared mammalian features and separate evidence about their reproduction. Do not fill a missing detail using a different species' property.
Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
This group in the catalogue
The installed Catalogue of Life places Mammalia at the rank of class. Accepted record col:6224G belongs to COL26.7 Base, 2026-07-14. The authored scientific name is retained alongside the shorter name; navigation uses the record identifier.
[1]Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Where to check this statement
- classification55-6224G
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
The immediate parent here is Tetrapoda (megaclass). Preserve intermediate groups in the full path: a short list of principal ranks can omit them.
[1]Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Where to check this statement
- classification55-6224G
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
This index version contains 2 direct child records. This counts the next level of the tree, not all species, organisms, observations or studied genomes in the group.
[1]Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Where to check this statement
- classification55-6224G
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
From group to species
Prepared examples in this branch are Homo sapiens, Mus (Mus) musculus. Membership was checked in the same CoL release. Opening an example leads to its separate species record. Its geography, traits and sequences do not become properties of every member of the group.
[1]Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Where to check this statement
- classification55-6224G
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
Next question
Choose an example and frame a question at species or specimen level. On the map, preserve the exact filter and observation source; in molecular searches, preserve assembly, gene and sequence version. If a dataset is unavailable, leave the question open. A missing service response does not establish biological absence.
Evidence for this statement
EcoGenesis
Continue exploring
Classification record and its scope
Inspect structured data
- col id
- 6224G
- scientific name
- Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- rank
- class
- parent id
- 9CK8W
- child count
- 2
- source release
- COL26.7 Base, 2026-07-14
- source sha256
- 891457d62af389842924ef1de8bd6fbbdf9f6b03428ef5dd487bed4d04c0ace0
- classification semantics
- provider_source_classification_only
- phylogeny
- False
- lineage
- col id
- CS5HF
- scientific name
- Eukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- rank
- domain
- status
- accepted
- col id
- N
- scientific name
- Animalia
- rank
- kingdom
- status
- accepted
- col id
- CH2
- scientific name
- Chordata
- rank
- phylum
- status
- accepted
- col id
- 8V4V3
- scientific name
- Vertebrata
- rank
- subphylum
- status
- accepted
- col id
- 8V4V5
- scientific name
- Gnathostomata
- rank
- infraphylum
- status
- accepted
- col id
- 8VVWB
- scientific name
- Osteichthyes
- rank
- parvphylum
- status
- accepted
- col id
- 9CK8W
- scientific name
- Tetrapoda
- rank
- megaclass
- status
- accepted
- col id
- 6224G
- scientific name
- Mammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- rank
- class
- status
- accepted
Evidence for this statement
Source annotation
Where to check this statement
- classification55-6224G
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
Continue exploring
Sources and versions
Editorial draft · human review pending
- Mammalia · Catalogue of Life
2026-09-19T12:02:54.209836+00:00 · Terms of use on source site
Provenance and original
- Source version
- COL26.7 Base, 2026-07-14
- Original SHA-256
- 891457d62af389842924ef1de8bd6fbbdf9f6b03428ef5dd487bed4d04c0ace0
- Source reading scope
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
- Location in the original source
- Installed classification: exact record, ancestor path and direct-child count. This is not a new phylogeny or a biological review.
- OpenStax 29.6 — Mammals
2026-09-19 · CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
Provenance and original
- Source version
- Biology 2e (2018); page inspected 2026-09-19
- Source reading scope
- Characteristics and living mammals: hair, milk, middle ear and reproductive diversity; species totals excluded.
- Location in the original source
- Characteristics and living mammals: hair, milk, middle ear and reproductive diversity; species totals excluded.
Inspect structured data
- Content version
- 803db7a7d2870a16c8f1b19beb9180080b7bb6e6f5712b827ba597529fd7a9ba
- Source version
- COL26.7@891457d62af389842924ef1de8bd6fbbdf9f6b03428ef5dd487bed4d04c0ace0
- Updated
- 2026-10-01