What do you think all mammals have in common? Let’s discover five mystery mammals facts for kids.
Unlike birds and fish mammals don’t lay eggs, instead they give birth to their young. Baby mammals are given milk from their mothers to sustain them while they grow stronger after birth. Some mammals even carry their young after birth until they are strong enough to be on their own. One example of this is the kangaroo, when baby kangaroos are born they climb into their mothers pouch where they stay until they are strong enough to leave. The only two species of mammal which don’t give birth to live young are the duck billed platypus and the spiny anteater, they lay eggs.
Mammals use their fur to keep warm and some even use their fur to blend into their environment like lions in the savanna. Even mammals which are born in the ocean have a form of fur or hair. Dolphins are born with whiskers which they lose as they grow up. Some mammals use their fur to adapt to their surroundings. Polar bears have two layers of fur which help them trap heat to keep from getting cold as they live most of their lives in the snow. Their fur looks white to help them blend into the snow.
Only 130 species of mammal live in the ocean, a very small percentage of all the mammals in the world but the largest mammal in the world lives in the ocean. The Antarctic blue whale can grow up to nearly 100 feet long and their tongue is as heavy as an elephant. They are also very heavy, growing to around 300 tons, which is 50 times heavier than an elephant.
These tiny bats get their name for being almost as small as bumblebees. The bumblebee bat measures around 30 millimetres long, that’s smaller than an adult thumb. They live in Thailand and Myanmar in caves and they roost in groups of 10 to 100 bats. The bumblebee bat is also called the Kitti’s hog-nosed bat. They get this name from their nose which is shaped like a snout, making them look a bit like a hog. What a cute mammal.
Humans are also classified as mammals which means you are a mammal too, there are several characteristics which help us see that humans are mammals. Humans have hair which grows from their skin, humans have mammary glands which they use to feed their young milk, and humans have ear bones which vibrate to help them hear sounds. All mammals have these characteristics in common.
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