What is the Difference Between Mammals and Animals?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals that share several unique characteristics. The main differences between mammals and other animals are:
- Hair or fur: Mammals have hair or fur, which is chemically different from hairlike structures found in other animals.
- Warm-blooded: Mammals are warm-blooded, meaning their body temperature is maintained at a constant level regardless of the outside temperature.
- Live birth: Mammalian young are born alive, rather than hatched from eggs. Before birth, they develop inside the mother's body in a special organ called a uterus, during a period called the gestation period.
- Milk production: All mammals produce and secrete milk from mammary glands to feed their young.
- Complex brain: Mammals have a more complex brain than other animals, with a neocortex region.
- Middle ear bones: Mammals have three middle ear bones - the malleus, incus, and stapes - which are unique to their class.
- Diaphragm: Mammals have a diaphragm that separates the heart and lungs from the abdomen.
- Absence of nuclei in mature red blood cells: Mammals lack nuclei in their mature red blood cells, unlike other animals.
Some examples of mammals include humans, dogs, cats, whales, and elephants. While there are many similarities between mammals and other animals, these distinguishing features set mammals apart from other vertebrate and invertebrate species.
Comparative Table: Mammals vs Animals
The main difference between mammals and animals is that mammals are a specific group of vertebrates that have unique characteristics, while animals refer to all living organisms. Here is a table comparing the differences between mammals and animals:
| Mammals | Animals |
|---|---|
| Mammals are a group of vertebrates possessing specific characteristics, such as hair or fur, endothermy, four-chambered hearts, and milk-feeding of young | Animals are all living organisms, including both mammals and other non-mammalian groups |
| Mammals are warm-blooded (endothermic) and have hair or fur | Some animals, such as fish and reptiles, are cold-blooded (ectothermic) |
| Mammals have four-chambered hearts | Some animals have different heart structures, such as three-chambered hearts or one-chambered hearts |
| Mammals feed their young with milk from the mother's body | Some animals do not feed their young with milk, but with other nutrient-rich substances or by regurgitation |
| Mammals are further classified into three groups: egg-laying monotremes (e.g., platypus), marsupials (e.g., kangaroos), and placental mammals (e.g., humans, dogs) | Animals encompass a vast array of living organisms beyond mammals, such as birds, reptiles, fish, and invertebrates |
In summary, mammals are a subset of animals with distinct features, such as hair or fur, endothermy, four-chambered hearts, and milk-feeding of young. Animals, on the other hand, include all living organisms, including mammals as well as fish, birds, reptiles, and invertebrates.
- Mammals vs Birds
- Fish vs Mammals
- Mammals vs Amphibians
- Mammal vs Reptile
- Birds vs Animals
- Aves vs Mammals
- Animal vs Human
- Mammal vs Marsupial
- Plants vs Animals
- Vertebrates vs Invertebrates
- Wild Animals vs Domestic Animals
- Ruminant vs Non-Ruminant Animals
- Elephant vs Mammoth
- Dogs vs Cats
- Human vs Animal Hair
- Marsupial vs Rodent
- Monotremes vs Marsupials
- Pet Animal vs Domestic Animal
- Warm Blooded vs Cold Blooded Animals