Another term for mammals is mammals. Including the class of vertebrate animals (having a backbone) and the mammary glands in females. Mammals are warm-blooded animals or have a constant body temperature, like humans.
In general, mammals give birth to their offspring by giving birth or giving birth. But there are some mammals that lay eggs, such as guppies and hammerhead sharks. Both of these animals are included in mammals because they have characteristics that are owned by mammals in general, namely breastfeeding and having mammary glands in females.
In various parts of the world, there are more than 5,000 genera of mammals. Distributed in 426 families and 46 orders, although depending on the scientific classification used. The types of mammals are very diverse, including: plantigrade/walking on the ground, fossorial/living in burrows, cursorial/sprinting, swimming/aquatic and saltatorial/jumping.
Not only spread as land, water, and air animals. They vary in size, from the smallest (2.5-12 centimeters) to the largest (33 meters) so they can live in places with different characters and weather. Starting from caves, holes, narrow places, the sea, to the desert, to the meadow.
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the number of mammals is very diverse. Amazingly, Indonesia is a country that has the highest diversity of mammals in the world. Of the 4,400 species of mammals in the world, 515 species are found in Indonesia and 36 of them are endemic species.
Called mammals, it comes from the presence of mammary glands in their bodies that function as milk suppliers. Female mammals will breastfeed their children by using the gland. However, male mammals also have mammary glands, but they do not function to breastfeed like female mammals.
Identification of Mammals
The diversity in these types of animals forces us to identify other than the main characteristics described above. Because these mammals are not only classified from the main characteristics that have mammary glands, but there are several other characteristics, namely:
- Warm-blooded, meaning that these mammals are often homeothermic, because of their ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
- The majority of mammals live on land. However, this is not absolute because it turns out that there are also several mammals that live in water, such as dolphins or whales.
- Have a well-developed brain.
- The respiratory system uses the lungs.
- The mammalian heart has four chambers.
- The skin contains oil and sweat glands.
Order of Animals, known as mammals, are one of the vertebrates (animals with a backbone). Mammals consist of several orders, which include:
- Order Insectivora (e.g., squirrels)
- Order Marsupialia (e.g., kangaroos)
- Order Proboscidea (e.g. elephants)
- Order Dactyla (e.g., Javan rhinoceros)
- Order Chiroptera (e.g. bats)
- Order Pholidota ( eg, pangolins)
- Order Marsupials (eg, lions, wolves, etc.)
- Order Artiodactyla (eg, buffalo, goats and so on).
Grouping of Mammals
Animals of mammals are also grouped by type of food. So that we can divide these types of mammals into several groups based on the type of food, namely:
- Herbivores are groups of animals that eat plants, for example elephants, giraffes, cows and rhinos.
- Carnivores are a group of animals that eat meat, for example tigers, dogs, cats and lions.
- Frugivores are a group of animals that feed on blood, for example vampire bats.
- Insectivores are groups that eat insects, for example various types of bats.
- Omnivores are a group of animals that eat both plants and meat, for example pigs, bears and mice.
- Nectarivores are a group of animals that eat nectar
Rare Water Mammals
Several types of mammals are known as rare and unique groups of animals, including the Mahakam Pesut and Blue Whale. The existence of these two animals is very stunning for anyone, here is a description of the two animals.
• Mahakam dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris)
The existence of Mahakam dolphin species in Indonesia is relatively rare, considering that there are only about 70 individuals living in the Mahakam River, East Kalimantan. This dolphin has been designated as a fauna that is the identity of the province of East Kalimantan.
This animal is a unique aquatic mammal, because some mammals generally live in sea water such as whales and dolphins. However, Mahakam dolphins live in rivers or lakes in tropical and subtropical areas.
Mahakam dolphins can reach lengths of up to 2.3 meters and weigh up to 130 kg as adults. The dolphin's body is gray or some are dark blue. The lower part of the body has a paler color.
The dolphin's body has an almost oval shape, the fin on its back is smaller and slightly backwards. The muzzle is short and looks 'flat' with breathing holes. The animal's head is round and its eyes are small with a high forehead and tend to be round.
When breathing, these mammals take air from the surface of the water. Sometimes he is also seen spitting water from his mouth and likes to swim with his herd and move cheerfully in the water.
The dolphin's view is not so sharp, but this animal has the ability to detect or avoid various obstacles by using ultrasonic waves. So even though they live in muddy water habitats, dolphins can still take care of themselves because they have ultrasonic waves.
Another advantage of this mammal, this whale has a sharp sense of hearing and touch, so it knows the direction from the water, by following the echoes of the sound it makes. Not only for navigation tools, the sound produced is also a form of communication between each other and at the same time detecting prey.
• Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
In English, blue whales are referred to as blue whales, pygmy blue whales, sulfur-bottom whales or sibbald's rorquals. So far, the blue whale is believed to be the largest animal in the world. Imagine, the body length of a blue whale can reach 33 meters. With such a long body size, this animal is not only the largest animal in the water, but also on land.
Blue whale habitat can be found in various oceans in almost all parts of the world, including in Indonesia. At the beginning of the 20th century, the number of animals of this type of mammal is estimated to still reach between 200,000-300,000. But recently, according to the IUCN Red List research, the number of these mammals is around 11,000-25,000.
This drastic decrease in the number of mammals is influenced by changes in sea temperature. This change resulted in a decrease in the population of krill, which is the main food of blue whales, thus automatically impacting the number of blue whale populations.
Krill is a staple food for blue whale mammals. Krill is a kind of small shrimp, the size is only about 8-60 mm. Given the size of the whale is very large, so that in a day the animal needs at least 3.6 tons of krill.
The blue whale's head is U-shaped and flat. At the top of his head, there is a hole whose function is to inhale oxygen and expel carbon dioxide. When breathing, the blue whale shows a fantastic scene where it will see a vertical burst up to a height of 12 meters, very much like a fountain.
This happens because the blue whale's lungs can hold up to approximately 5,000 liters of water. In addition, the blue whale can be recognized by the color of its back that looks striking with the dominance of blue combined with gray and has a white and thin border. The tail is lighter in color, while the tail and tip of the head are gray.
Like other mammals, blue whales suckle their young. Blue whale milk is not shaped like water in general, because it is rather dense and contains a lot of fat. Mother whales have special muscles around their mammary glands. When a blue whale moves its muscles, the pressure it produces causes its milk to be squirted out and into the baby's mouth.