Facts About Mammal Teeth Teeth are important things… without them, eating becomes a lot more difficult. In mammals, teeth have reached their highest peak of evolution. Mammalian teeth are both more complicated and more efficient than in other vertebrates. Teeth are heavy and require considerable muscle to operate efficiently. This has made an important contribution … Read more
The Bones of Mammals Bones are very important: they allow us to stand up and they gives us form and shape. They also allow us to move. Without bones to support our limbs and to attach our muscles to, we would not be able to move at all. So you can see, bones are fundamental … Read more
The Mammalian Skeleton Mammals are vertebrates by definition. This means that all mammals have an internal bony support structure, to which muscles and ligaments are attached. This is what we call a skeleton. The basic plan of the mammalian skeleton (as seen above) is fairly straight forward. It consists of a head at one end … Read more
Mammalian Eyes and Vision “Mammalian eyes. Ahh, I see”. This common statement, linking – as it does – understanding with sight, is an excellent example of how important vision is to Humankind. We are the most visually orientated and vision dependent of all the mammals. However, nearly all mammals use sight to some degree. For … Read more
Senses In Mammals Like all living things, Mammals need to collect information from the world around them. They need to do this in order to be able to respond to the world profitably. In other words, to live in the world, you need to perceive it and for this we have senses. The senses are … Read more
Scent Glands Mammals have three distinct sorts of glands which give off substances to the surface of the body. None of these occur in reptiles. They are sweat glands, mammary glands and scent glands. Smells are vitally important to most mammals. Even humans, with our much reduced olfactory senses, are greatly affected by smells – … Read more
Human Evolution The evolution of human beings (Homo sapiens) is a subject that fascinates many people. We all want to know who our ancestors were. Human beings are mammals, then primates, and then anthropoids. Among the primates, our closest relatives are the Chimpanzees and Bonobos in the genus Pongo. Humanity is in the genus Homo, thus … Read more
The Ivory Trade The ivory trade is an important aspect of the economy of Africa. It involves 150 of the worlds 190 countries and it isn’t likely to just go away. We need to find a stable solution to the situation. Here is a brief discussion of the problem, as it is seen in November … Read more
Facts About Elephants Elephants are members of the family Proboscidae and they are the largest animals currently living on land. They are well known and extremely popular among both children and adults – both as images and as real animals in zoos and wildlife parks. In many Asian countries, and some African ones, elephant rides … Read more
The Wonder of Mammalian Milk Mammary glands, the source of milk, are unique to mammals… As is milk itself, though pigeons produce something similar in their crops for their young. Mammary glands are what give our class of animals their name. We are the mammals, or the mammary gland possessing animals. Mammary glands are modified … Read more