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Figure 1:In mammals, the quadrate and articular bones are small and part of the middle ear; the lower jaw consists only of dentary bone.. While living mammal species can be identified by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands in the females, other features are required when classifying fossils, because mammary glands and other soft-tissue features are not visible in fossils.
An evolutionary tree of mammals. [3] Modern mammals (class Mammalia) are divided into Monotremes, Marsupials, and Placentals. The subclass Prototheria (Monotremes) comprises the five species of egg-laying mammals: platypus and four echidna species. The infraclasses Metatheria (Marsupials) and Eutheria (Placentals) together form the subclass Theria.
Molecular studies by molecular systematists, based on DNA analysis, in the early 21st century have revealed new relationships among mammal families. Classification systems based on molecular studies reveal three major groups or lineages of placental mammals, Afrotheria, Xenarthra, and Boreoeutheria. which diverged from early common ancestors in the Cretaceous.
The higher taxonomy used for the ungulates of this order is based primarily on the Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 2 on hoofed mammals, including the subfamily and tribal affiliations in each family. The order includes about 242 recognized ungulate species, along with 6 recently extinct species.
One study based on DNA analysis suggests that Scandentia and Primates are sister clades, but does not discuss the position of Dermoptera. [9] Although it is known that Scandentia is one of the most basal Euarchontoglires clades, the exact phylogenetic position is not yet considered resolved, and it may be a sister of Glires, Primatomorpha or Dermoptera or to all other Euarchontoglires.
Amborella trichopoda, the most basal extant angiosperm. The flowering plant family Amborellaceae, restricted to New Caledonia in the southwestern Pacific, [n 9] is a basal clade of extant angiosperms, [13] consisting of the most species, genus, family and order within the group that are sister to all other angiosperms (out of a total of about 250,000 angiosperm species).
A mammal (from Latin mamma 'breast') [1] is a vertebrate animal of the class Mammalia (/ m ə ˈ m eɪ l i. ə /). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three middle ear bones.
Cladotheria is a clade (sometimes ranked as a legion) [2] of mammals. It contains modern therian mammals (marsupials and placentals) and several extinct groups, such as the "dryolestoids", amphitheriids and peramurids. The clade was named in 1975 by Malcolm McKenna.