What are Mammals?
Mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates with:
- hair
- mammary glands used to suckle young with milk
- a diaphragm used in breathing
- three bones in the middle ear which connect the eardrum to the inner ear
- a lower jaw made up of a single pair of bones that articulates in a unique way with the skull
Australia is well known for its unique mammals. It is one of the few places in the world where representatives from all three
major groups of mammals can be found. Currently there are 358 native species recorded from Australia and surrounding waters. Of these:
- 2 are monotremes (the Platypus and Short-beaked Echidna)
- around 160 are marsupials (including kangaroos, possums, bandicoots, the Numbat and carnivorous marsupials)
- approximately 196 are placental mammals (including native rodents, bats and marine mammals).
A further 22 species are introduced mammals, some of which are responsible for the widespread extinction of a range of native species.
Mammals and the Australian Museum
For over 150 years the Australian Museum has contributed to our understanding of the biology of mammals from the Australia-Pacific region. During the mid 1800s explorers and early naturalists lodged representative specimens of newly discovered species in museums in order to document the mammal diversity of the region. One notable species, the Platypus, was thought to be a hoax as it was so different from anything seen by European scientists of the time.
New species of mammals are still being described each year based on research conducted in association with museums or using museum collections. At the same time, museums also provide a record of the complete extinction or disappearance of many mammal species from large parts of their former ranges. In some cases all that remains are a few skins, or a perhaps a skull, collected when the species was still widespread.
Content for the Mammals website was authored by Sandy Ingleby, Mammals Collection Manager. Enquiries about the content or for further information, please email Sandy Ingleby.
Copyright © Australian Museum, 2003
