Book 33, Question 1
What makes an animal a mammal?
Mammals are animals that make milk to feed their babies.
They also have hair or fur at some time in their lives, even whales have a few whiskers. Their bodies make their own heat, so they stay warm in cold weather. A mammal has three tiny bones in each ear and a muscle called the diaphragm under its lungs. You are a mammal too.
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Quick answers
What makes an animal a mammal?
All mammals produce and secrete milk from mammary glands to feed their offspring.
Source: Hawaii
More fun facts
- Hair or fur helps mammals survive in cold climates by insulating their bodies.
- Mammals are a diverse group of animals that includes between 5,000 and 5,500 species adapted to live in a wide variety of environments.
- Examples of mammals include rats, cats, dogs, deer, monkeys, apes, bats, whales, dolphins, and humans.
- The vast majority of mammal species live on land, although some, such as otters, seals, and dolphins, live in freshwater and ocean habitats.
- Marine mammals include whales, sirenians, pinnipeds, the marine otter, the sea otter, and the polar bear.
Sources: Hawaii