Mammals detachment insectivorous interesting facts. Insectivorous animals: photos and names, characteristics, interesting facts. For bearing babies

In this lesson, you will learn about the common features of the group of animals to which we belong - mammals, that is, animals that feed their young with milk. The lesson will focus not only on the most primitive mammals, which, like birds and reptiles, lay eggs, but also on real animals (marsupials) and higher animals (placental). You will learn how mammals differ from reptiles and birds, what are the features of internal fertilization and the internal development of embryos. Of the higher animals, you will get to know insectivores and bats in more detail. You'll find out how wrong you were about the good nature of hedgehogs and the viciousness of vampire bats. In addition, you will get acquainted with the origin, amazing abilities and records of representatives of our class.

Homework

1. Give general characteristics mammals. What are the subclasses of this class?

2. What do primitive animals have in common with animals, birds, and reptiles?

3. What animals are cloacal?

4. What are the features of the external and internal structure characteristic of real animals?

5. How do higher and lower animals differ from each other?

6. What features of the structure and physiology are characteristic of insectivores and bats? What representatives of these groups live in your region?

7. Discuss with friends and family the importance of mammals in nature and economy.

Insectivores are the most ancient and primitive group of placental mammals. These are small (from 3 to 40 cm) animals with an elongated head. The body is covered with thick hair or bristles, in hedgehogs - with needles. The dental system is poorly differentiated; incisors, canines and molars practically do not differ from each other. The brain is poorly developed (with the exception of the olfactory region), there are no convolutions. Some insectivores breed three times a year, bringing a litter of 25 cubs.

Insectivorous 9 families: slit-toothed, tenrec, otter shrews, golden moles, hedgehogs, jumping horses, shrews, moles, desmans. Prygunchikovs are now often isolated in a separate detachment. Over 400 species in Eurasia, Africa and North America, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the deserts. They lead a terrestrial, underground or semi-aquatic, predominantly nocturnal lifestyle.

Insectivores exterminate harmful insects. Desman and moles are objects of fur trade. The number of some species is declining, they are under protection.

Insectivores. Top row, left to right: Haitian flint tooth, common tenrec, Grant's golden mole. Bottom row, left to right: hedgehog, eared hedgehog, short-eared elephant jumper

Insectivores. Top row - shrews, from left to right: small shrew, baby shrew, common shrew. Bottom row: European mole, starfish mole, muskrat

Filipino woolly wing

Insectivores:

• 1 - schelezub;
• 2 - tenrec;
• 3 - otter shrew;
• 4 - Cape golden mole;
• 5 - jumper;
• 6 - common shrew shrew;
• 7 - European mole;
• 8 - desman;
• 9 - common hedgehog.

The lecture was added on 02/28/2013 at 17:52:17

Squad characteristics. In the structure of the most important organs of insectivores, the primitive features of ancient mammals have been preserved. So, insectivores have sharply tuberculate teeth, which can hardly be divided into groups. The cerebral hemispheres are small and smooth, almost without convolutions.

Hedgehog. The hedgehog's body is covered on top with numerous needles - modified hair, and on the ventral side - with wool. The legs of the hedgehog are short, the movements are slow, in case of danger it curls up into a ball.

The hedgehog is nocturnal, its small eyes play a secondary role when looking for food. But his hearing and sense of smell are well developed. The main food of the hedgehog is numerous insects, which he looks for on the soil, in last year's fallen leaves and deadwood. Exterminating harmful insects, the hedgehog is beneficial. In addition to insects, he eats earthworms, frogs, can eat a turned up mouse or destroy bird eggs. A hedgehog can cope with a viper, whose poison, when bitten, acts on him weaker than on other animals.

With the onset of winter, hedgehogs hide in a pre-arranged shelter, where they fall into deep hibernation. The hedgehog's body temperature drops, he rarely breathes, his heart works slowly and weakly - the whole body of the animal is in a deep stupor until the warm season. The long sleep of the hedgehog and some other animals is associated with a lack of habitual food. Hibernation allows the animal to endure adverse environmental conditions.

Ordinary mole. The life of an ordinary mole passes in the ground in dug holes. There are especially many moles in the forest and forest-steppe zones, where they are found in meadows, fields, along the edges of the forest, in gardens and orchards. Everyone saw in the meadows clearly visible ejections of earth from the underground galleries of the mole - molehill. The mole digs the soil with strong forelimbs - they are short, but with a large wide brush, armed with powerful claws. With such a paw, like a shovel, the mole loosens the earth and throws it back.

The whole body of the mole is adapted to life in holes and digging - it is dense, cylindrical shape, the head is devoid of auricles, the neck is almost invisible. Due to the constant darkness in the hole, the eyes of the mole are underdeveloped, their size is the size of a pinhead. The animal searches for food with the help of a well-developed sense of smell and touch.

The hairline of the mole is short and velvety. When the mole moves forward in the hole, the undercoat fits snugly against its body and protects the animal's skin from soil and moisture getting into it. When the mole backs away, the undercoat easily folds back.

The mole is active all year round. He constantly bypasses dug in different directions burrows several hundred meters long and eats earthworms, insects and their larvae that have got there. When food becomes scarce, the mole digs new moves. Moles are hunted for their beautiful fur.

Shrews. Outwardly, shrews are similar to mice, but differ from them. Not big eyes and an elongated head with a proboscis. Of the shrews, the common shrew is numerous and widely distributed. Its small body, up to 10 cm long, is covered with grayish-brown fur. The shrew lives in a variety of landscapes - from tundra to steppes and deserts, but is most often found in forests and meadows.

Despite the short legs, the shrew runs quickly and dexterously. With high mobility, the animal needs a lot of food. The great voracity of shrews is known: the common shrew eats 1.5-2 times more food per day than its body weight, and the baby shrew (the smallest animal of mammals) eats even more, 4 times.

Shrews cannot provide themselves with such an amount of food at a time, so they are active around the clock at all times of the year. Having satiated, the animals rest for a short time, but as soon as the food is digested, they go out in search of a new one. Shrews search for prey, mainly insects, on the ground, among forest litter, under snow and in other places inaccessible to insectivorous birds.

All shrews benefit by eating insects in large numbers.

Insectivora (Insectivora) - mostly small and very small animals. The head of the majority is wedge-shaped, with a nose elongated in the form of a proboscis. The body of most animals is covered with smooth, thick, velvety fur, while a few have stiff, bristle-like hair or short needles. The limbs are arranged differently, depending on the lifestyle. Many insectivores have odorous (musk) glands.

Insectivores lead a terrestrial (hedgehogs, shrews), underground (moles) or semi-aquatic and aquatic (otter shrews, shrews, desmans) lifestyle. Mostly these are nocturnal animals. Burrows serve as a refuge for many, sometimes very difficult; small forest terrestrial species live in the forest floor.

Insectivorous animals: photos and names, characteristics, interesting facts

They are active all year round, only some representatives of the hedgehog family hibernate for the winter. They breed up to 3 times a year, in a litter from 1 to 25 cubs.

The dental system is primitive. The number of teeth is from 44 to 26. A set of 44 teeth is considered the initial (most primitive) for higher animals. The premolars of insectivores are distinctly divided into two categories according to their structure - small premolars and large, or large, premolars. Representatives of different genera and families have a different number of small premolars, therefore they are of great importance in taxonomy, and large premolars have only one on each side in the upper and lower jaws. Large molars are adjacent to small molars, they are always larger in size than small ones: and they have 2 or 3 roots, often several sharp peaks. On molars, cutting ridges (commissures) pass between sharp peaks, forming a pattern similar to the letter W or V. Teeth of this structure are called insectivorous teeth.

The brain of insectivores has a relatively large olfactory region, and the dimensions of the hemispheres are small, in many without furrows and do not cover the top of the cerebellum. Of the sense organs, the organs of smell and touch reach the greatest development. The organs of vision in almost all are poorly developed, in some the eyes are generally hidden under the skin. In connection with the weak development of the brain, conditioned reflexes are developed slowly and quickly lost (fade out).

Insectivores are distributed almost all over the world with the exception of Antarctica, Australia and most of South America. To the north, they go to the shores and large islands of the Arctic Ocean, in the mountains they rise almost to the lower edge of snowfields and glaciers.

Insectivores are one of the oldest groups of higher animals. Their fossil remains are known from the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the Mesozoic era. The time elapsed from then to the present day is about 135 million years. Their origin is associated with the Jurassic animal-like creatures of the pantotherium subclass, the trituberculate order.

Characteristics of insectivores

There are eight families and 374 species. Insectivores live in general where there are no marsupials: on all continents and many islands, except for Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea, New Zealand and South America (with the exception of its small areas in the northwestern corner of this mainland). Insectivores are also not found in the Arctic.
Insectivores are small animals, but they have a long zoological history. One hundred million years ago, in the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs were still crushing horsetails with the power of their soles unprecedented since then, insectivores already lived in the trampled greenery under the feet of giant lizards. All animals descended from those ancient nimble animals: cats and dogs, deer and hares, semi-monkeys and monkeys, and from monkeys - and people. Only marsupials lead their genus from a genetically close, but different root - marsupial tritubercles, also insectivorous, judging by their usual subsistence. Tricodonts were the progenitors of the insectivores of our day. So the paths of development of cloacal marsupials and non-marsupial higher animals diverged a very long time ago, probably 150 million years ago.
And even now, insectivorous teeth are almost the same as they were a long time ago - tuberculate, similar to one another: they have no fangs, incisors and molars, one might say. The brain is also primitive - without convolutions, smooth. The cerebral hemispheres are small: they do not cover the cerebellum.

Close to insectivores are coleopterans, two species of which live in the forests of the Philippines, Indochina and the Malay Archipelago. All of their limbs and tail are connected by a hairy web, with which they can glide from tree to tree.

Shrew. Photo: Gilles Gonthier

The limbs of insectivores are four- or five-fingered, plantigrade, all fingers are armed with claws. The hairline is usually short, soft, poorly differentiated; sometimes the body is covered with spines. The skin contains sebaceous, primitive sweat and specific glands. Teats from 2 to 12. The number of teeth is from 44 to 26. A set of 44 teeth is considered the initial (most primitive) for higher animals. The premolars of insectivores are distinctly divided into two categories according to their structure - small premolars and large, or large, premolars. Representatives of different genera and families have a different number of small premolars, therefore they are of great importance in taxonomy, and large premolars have only one on each side in the upper and lower jaws. Large molars are adjacent to small molars, they are always larger in size than small ones: and they have 2 or 3 roots, often several sharp peaks. On molars, cutting ridges (commissures) pass between sharp peaks, forming a pattern similar to the letter W or V. Teeth of this structure are called insectivorous teeth. The brain of insectivores has a relatively large olfactory region, and the dimensions of the hemispheres are small, in many without furrows and do not cover the top of the cerebellum. Of the sense organs, the organs of smell and touch reach the greatest development. The organs of vision in almost all are poorly developed, in some the eyes are generally hidden under the skin.

They lead a terrestrial, underground, semi-aquatic or arboreal lifestyle.

Order Insectivores

Most of them are nocturnal; some are open 24/7. They feed mainly on insects, although there are predators among them. Insectivores are polygamous. Pregnancy 11-43 days. Usually one litter per year, rarely more. There are up to 14 cubs in a litter. Sexual maturity is reached at the age of 3-4 months to two years. Economic importance is relatively small. A number of species benefit the forest and agriculture by eating harmful insects. Some species (mole) are of commercial importance.

The smallest mammal on Earth, the shrew (a baby shrew is the size of a little finger, its body length is 34-48 millimeters plus a 22-31 millimeter tail) is an insectivore. A hedgehog - a thunderstorm of vipers, an underground inhabitant of a mole, a muskrat swimming in an expensive fur coat - are also insectivorous. Tanreks live in Madagascar - "hedgehogs" without thorns. In the West Indies - solenodonts, or flint teeth, similar to them. In Indonesia - dart frogs. Scientists have been arguing about them for a long time: insectivorous tupai or semi-monkeys. Here we will follow those who consider them to be semi-monkeys after all. Insectivores live on land and in water, underground and on trees, and everywhere they have adapted to their surroundings quite well.

Insectivora 9 families:

- flint-toothed
- tenrec
- otter shrews
- gold mole
- hedgehogs
- jumping
– shrews
- mole
- desman

Prygunchikovs are now often isolated in a separate detachment.

Insectivores

Insectivores are a group of primitive placental mammals of the chordate type. These are the most ancient animals, the development of the embryos of which occurs through the formation of the placenta. They appeared on Earth in the course of evolution at the beginning of the Cretaceous period. Paleontologists consider the insectivorous ancestors to be the progenitors of all placental mammals.

The insectivorous order unites seven families: mole, hedgehog, flint-toothed, springbok, golden mole, tenrec, shrew. Orders, in turn, are divided into more than 60 genera, including more than 300 species. Representatives of insectivores - hedgehog, shrew, mole, muskrat.

Insectivores are widely distributed throughout the world, except for Antarctica, Greenland, Australia and most of South America. These animals inhabited different habitats: terrestrial (shrews, hedgehogs), aquatic (muskrat, otter shrews), soil (moles, golden moles). Insectivores are predominantly nocturnal. They are omnivores, but prefer animal food, feeding on invertebrates (including insects - hence the name of the detachment) and small vertebrates. Many of the insectivores dig holes in which they hide from enemies. Some species hide in the forest floor. Insectivorous animals are active throughout the year, rare species from the hedgehog family are able to hibernate for the winter.

Insectivorous mammals are usually small to medium in size. The cover of the body of shrews, moles is short dense wool, tenrecs - bristles, hedgehogs - needles. The color of the coat is varied - from gray to black, sometimes spotted. The head of insectivores is elongated, often there is a mobile proboscis with long sensitive hairs. The eyes and ears of these animals are small and almost invisible. They have a very well developed sense of smell and touch. The teeth of all animals of this group are poorly differentiated. The limbs of most species of insectivores are plantigrade, each with five toes with claws. The tail can be almost invisible, like a hedgehog, or equal in length to the size of the body, like a desman. In the skin of animals there are special skin glands, in some species they secrete a secret with a strong odor.

The structure of the brain has characteristics. The large hemispheres have a primitive structure without convolutions. They are small in size and do not cover the cerebellum, and the olfactory part of the brain is well developed.

Insectivores are polygamous animals. They breed 2-3 times a year, there can be from one to twenty cubs in a litter.

The importance of insectivores lies in the fact that they are members of a variety of natural biocenoses. For humans, some species of insectivores serve as objects of fur trade (moles, muskrats).

Characteristics of insectivores

Insectivores eat arthropods - pests of agriculture and forestry. But they themselves can be dangerous to humans, as some of them are intermediate hosts of ticks that carry serious diseases. Rare species insectivores, such as the muskrat, the sand-toothed, are listed in the Red Book and are under protection.

INSECTIVORE

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The sizes of insectivores vary greatly - from 3-5 to 3-50 cm, and weight - from 1.5 g to 1.5-2.0 kg

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mental powers insectivores do not shine, but, like all living creatures, they are perfectly adapted to their habitat. Some (for example, our hedgehogs) are well tamed, so calling them stupid and gloomy is generally unfair. It is believed that conditioned reflexes in insectivores are formed slowly and fade quickly, and of all parts of the brain, the olfactory one is the most developed. Nevertheless, insectivores are perfectly oriented in changing situations - after all, many of them feed on fairly mobile prey.

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Now the detachment of insectivores is divided into families of hedgehogs, tenrecs, golden moles, desmans, moles, shrews, slittooths, jumpers.

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The European hedgehog is a carrier ixodid ticks- a carrier of dangerous diseases (including tick-borne encephalitis and tularemia). For these ticks, the hedgehog is a universal host - they feel good on it in any phase of development (any one phase usually thrives on other animals, and then the host has to be changed). The hedgehog collects ticks on itself much more than other forest animals due to its needle-like skin, with which he, like a brush, scrapes ticks from vegetation. Up to 600–700, and sometimes up to 2,000 drunk ticks were removed from one hedgehog at the same time.

It's interesting that

Recently, zoologists from the species "common hedgehog" have been identified as separate species Dahurian hedgehog and Eastern European hedgehog.

In the south of Russia, in Central Asia, Northeast Africa, in the Far East and Siberia, an eared hedgehog lives - it is smaller than the European one, but the auricles reach a height of 3–5 cm. tends not so much to curl up into a ball as to defend itself - bounce, hit with needles and hiss. Eared hedgehog is surprisingly resistant to strong poisons and overheating.

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The mole belongs to the mole family (Talpidae). Total modern mole is known to be approx. 30 species grouped into 10–12 genera and 5 subfamilies.

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As for vision - it is doubtful, the eyes of the mole are undeveloped.

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Moles are generally quarrelsome creatures, and in captivity their quarrelsomeness is still intensifying - in captivity, an adult male mole may well bite a female planted to him, and a female - a cub. Moreover, moles are "cannibals", they willingly eat the meat of other moles. But this does not indicate cruelty, bloodthirstiness, ferocity and vindictiveness - all these characteristics are purely human and are exclusively personal in nature.

It's interesting that

At one time, the mole eats up to 20–22 g of earthworms. He eats the worm from the end, holding it with the fingers of his front paws, which allows him to squeeze out the earth from the intestines of the worm.

It's interesting that

A portion of the food eaten is digested in the body of the worm in 4-5 hours

It's interesting that

A mole eats about 50–60 g of food per day, which is slightly less than the body weight of a mole.

It's interesting that

In winter, the mole does not hibernate - underground the temperature does not drop as sharply as on the surface.

It's interesting that

The mole does not need to spend too much energy searching for food - the worms themselves crawl into the mole passages, where they are attracted by the smell of the mole's musk glands and are higher compared to environment temperature

It's interesting that

The skin of a mole wears out quickly from moving along tight passages. Therefore, the mole does not have 1-2 molts per year, like most animals, but 3 or even 4

In addition to the common mole, the Altai mole is found in Russia, interesting for its pronounced sexual dimorphism (females are the size of a European mole, and males are much larger) and a shortened tail. In the Caucasus, you can meet the small mole (the smallest representative of the mole fauna of Russia) and the Caucasian mole, very similar to the European one, but whose eyes are completely hidden under the skin. In Primorye, you can find another closely related species - the Ussuri Moger, outwardly similar to the European mole, but differing from it in the features of reproduction biology, as well as in the density and beauty of the skin.

It's interesting that

In southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States, a starfish lives, which differs from real meeks in that it navigates well on the surface, swims and dives well (because it lives mainly near water bodies). For swimming, he uses all the limbs, and controls the tail. But the star-nosed star is especially distinguished by its amazing appearance - its stigma has the shape of a rosette with 22 bare fleshy rays (tentacles). When the starship is looking for prey, the tentacles are in constant motion, and when it eats, they gather into a tight ball.

In the western regions of North America, the Pacific mole, similar to the common mole, lives, and in southeastern Canada, the East American mole. In North America, from Canada to California, the American shrew mole also lives - the smallest of the American moles (its length is only 11-12 cm).

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Surprisingly, tupai are now classified by zoologists as a group of Primates. They are included in the suborder of the Semi-monkeys, uniting lemurs, tupai and tarsiers. The tupai family (tupaya in Malay means "an animal that looks like a squirrel") really unites animals resembling squirrels and living on trees and shrubs. Nevertheless, these small animals are our relatives (albeit very distant ones).

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Jumpers are so different from other insectivores (with developed sense organs, in particular, large eyes, a large brain, reproductive biology and a reduced number of teeth) that some zoologists distinguish them into a separate order, and some classify this family as primates, uniting them into one suborder with tupai, lemurs and tarsiers.

It's interesting that

Plasmodium malaria, a disease that affects primates, including humans, was found in the blood of some jumpers.

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Now the family Tenrekovyh (Tenrecidae). These are animals with a body length of 4 to 2 cm, living exclusively in Madagascar and the adjacent Comoros. The family includes ca. 30 species united in 8–9 genera. Tenrec eucaudatus - the tailless tenrec mentioned by Brem - is the largest in the family, its length reaches 39 cm, a comb of long hair and spines runs along the back. The tenrec is a terrestrial animal that forages in the leaf litter.

It's interesting that

The tailless tenrec hibernates during the dry season. To do this, he opens a hole up to 2 meters deep. In a sleeping animal, the body temperature decreases (up to 24–35? C) and the respiratory rate (up to 30 per minute).

It's interesting that

Young tailless tenrecs have specialized spines up to 4 cm long in the middle of their backs. They are directed forward and, under the influence of skin muscles, can vibrate, making sounds that serve as a means of mutual communication. The same area with long spines is found in the middle of the back of the striped tenrec (14–16 spines in an area of ​​approx. 1 cm?). Vibrating and touching each other, these needles produce sounds with a frequency of 2 to 80 Hz.

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The flint-toothed are distinguished into a separate family of flint-toothed, which includes 2 genera with 2 species, living on only two islands: Cuba and Haiti (Cuban (Kuban) flint-tooth and Haitian flint-tooth, respectively). These are small animals, vaguely resembling a rat in appearance and named due to the deep groove on the second lower incisor. A gland that secretes poisonous saliva adjoins the base of the incisor. The slittooths easily become the prey of animals brought to the islands and are now close to complete extermination. Both species are listed in the International Red Book. In captivity, sloth teeth do not take root well, they easily become enraged and pounce on a person, trying to bite him.

It's interesting that

The slittooths are not immune to their own poison - in captivity, these animals easily die from bites received during fights among themselves.

It's interesting that

The skin glands of the open teeth, located under the armpits and in the groin, produce an oily, greenish secretory secretion that has a strong unpleasant odor.

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It's interesting that

Modern zoology, in determining the systematic affiliation of an animal, attaches great importance to the structural features of the teeth and skull. In shrews, the ratio of the height of the teeth and their number is one of the signs that make it possible to determine species and genera. Nevertheless, it is in shrews that a unique phenomenon is observed, noted by the Polish zoologist A. Danel - in individuals born in summer, already in early age the skull soon compares in length and height with the braincase of their parents, and by the beginning of winter the braincase flattens, reaching its lowest height by the end of winter. In spring, an increase in the brain box is again observed - it becomes higher than in autumn. Such a change in the size of the cranium becomes possible because the parietal bones of the shrews are connected not by a bone “suture”, but by an overlay of the inner edges on each other. Accordingly, the shape and volume of the brain changes. This amazing phenomenon, observed only in shrews, is called the “Danell phenomenon.”

It's interesting that

The most significant seasonal flattening of the skull was found in shrews living in areas with harsh winters- in particular, in Yakutia.

It's interesting that

Although it is the number of teeth that is the defining species trait, in shrews it does not coincide in different individuals of the same species. So, the common shrew usually has 32 teeth, but there are specimens with 34 or 30 teeth. In the pygmy polytooth, with the usual number of teeth 30, individuals with 28 teeth were noted.

It's interesting that

Shrews are the only representatives of insectivores that can be found in South America, and then in its extreme north.

It's interesting that

Shrews are characterized by a very high metabolic rate - the total mass of food eaten per day exceeds the mass of the animal itself by 2–4 times. Shrews are forced to eat very often - so they have short intervals between sleep and food. If the shrews are not fed for 7–9 hours, they die.

It's interesting that

In Central Europe, shrews live 14–16, at most 18 months.

In total, there are about 21 genera in the family of shrews. species in different kinds a huge number - from 50 (shrews) to 150 (shrews), and the number of species is continuously being refined either downward or upward.

It's interesting that

One of the smallest animals on earth is a tiny shrew that lives from Karelia to the eastern shores of Kamchatka (it can also be found in the south of the Moscow region). This animal is so small (body length approx. 4–5 cm, and the weight of an adult animal is approx. 1.5–3 g) that it is difficult to catch it in ordinary rodent traps. Therefore, its population and lifestyle are little studied. The lesser shrew is slightly larger (body length 4–6 cm, weight 3–5 g), also inhabiting Russia.

And the smallest representative of mammals is the pygmy shrew, which lives from Northern Nigeria to the South of Western Europe and east to Southern China. It can be found in Eastern Transcaucasia (in the vicinity of Tbilisi, the Mugan steppe, Lankaran), in Central Asia to the northern coast of the Aral Sea). The length of her body (including a movable proboscis) is from 3 to 4.5 cm, and her body weight is 1–1.5 g.

The largest members of the family are the giant shrew living in the tropics from West Africa to Southeast China (body length 12–15 cm, weight 70–75 g) and the African giant shrew living in the forests of Cameroon (body length 15–18 cm). ).

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Most likely, the common shrew, Sorex caecutiens, is the most common in the forest-tundra zone.

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Now - Sorex araneus, common shrew. Body length up to 9 cm.

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Now - a small shrew living in North Africa, Western Europe, Asia Minor, Central and Central Asia, Mongolia, Northeast China, South Primorye, and in Russia - in the Moscow and Gorky regions, to Troitsk, Chelyabinsk region.

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The water shrew is now separated into a special genus Neomis.

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Desmans are allocated in a separate family Desmanidae, with two genera, each of which has one species. Russian muskrat is now called Desmana moschata

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All data on the length of Brem's shrews include the length of the tail. Therefore, data on shrews and other insectivores are often higher than in modern reference books, since it is now customary to give tail length separately. Accordingly, the body length of the desman is 18–22 cm, and the length of the tail is equal to the length of the body. Weight - up to 520 grams.

It's interesting that

At the very base, the tail of the desman is, as it were, pulled over and, accordingly, has the smallest diameter. Behind the constriction is a pear-shaped thickening, in which there are musk glands that secrete an odorous substance. This substance is an attractant (attractive) for aquatic invertebrates that the muskrat feeds on. Moving from one coastal hole to another along a connecting trench laid along the bottom of the reservoir, the muskrat lures prey with secretions of glands, which itself is drawn to the feeding place.

It's interesting that

The muskrat cannot boast of intelligence - its brain is undeveloped. Zoologists A.P. Kuzyakin, P.P. Vtorov retell the following episode - during the acclimatization of the muskrat (according to the conservation program), the captured animals were planted in wooden boxes where they sat, timidly huddled in a corner and not even trying to feed on the fish placed at the bottom of the same box. The attendant then took the animals by the tail, lifted them up and brought them to the fish. As soon as the animal touched the fish with its nose, it immediately began to eat greedily, not paying attention to what was hanging upside down.

It's interesting that

The desman lives in the floodplains of small rivers in the Don basin and the middle reaches of the Volga (from Yaroslavl to Saratov), ​​rarely, but is found in the basin of the lower half of the Ural River. Attempts have been made to reacclimatize it (return to its former habitat) on some tributaries of the Dnieper and water bodies of Western Siberia. So we can say that the muskrat is a native Russian animal.

It's interesting that

The skin of the muskrat is relatively large, light and very strong. The fur is of the highest category of wear and is surprisingly beautiful. But this animal is not a commercial species now - it is too rare. The desman is listed in the Red Book of Russia and the International Red Book and is a rare and endangered species.

Predictions for the conservation of the muskrat are not very favorable - in their natural habitats, it is displaced by the acclimatized muskrat, and the habitats themselves (floodplain water bodies) are being destroyed due to human activities. The muskrat cannot move to another body of water on its own - this animal is almost blind, and even clumsy, easily becomes a victim of random predators.

But the muskrat can be called a living fossil, it has been living in this territory for millions of years!

It's interesting that

In ancient times, in the dense forests and swamps of Muscovy, a lot of various game was found. Elk, wild boar, reindeer, bear, fox, lynx, badger, marten, ferret, roe deer, aurochs were quite common here, not to mention numerous waders, black grouse, white partridges, wood pigeons and waterfowl. The region abounded with slow rivers and forest lakes - favorite habitats of aquatic animals. Suffice it to say that back in the 17th century, the skin of the rarest relic animal, the muskrat, was estimated at 2–3 kopecks.

Along the Pyrenean Ridge, another species of muskrat lives - the Pyrenean muskrat, smaller than ours and living along the banks of mountain rivers and lakes. Its numbers are also small, the species is included in the International Red Book.

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Woolly wings are so peculiar that they are now classified as a separate order, Dermoptera.

They are indeed relatives of insectivores, from which they descended in the early Cenozoic. In the modern fauna, they are represented by only one family of winged wings, which includes 1 genus with 2 species.

Brema's common winged wing is now called the Philippine winged wing Cynocephalus volans, and there is also the Malay winged wing.

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With tail, body length without tail - up to 42 cm.

It's interesting that

Unlike bats, the wings of the winged wing are covered with soft and thick hair.

It's interesting that

The woolly wing does not so much fly as it glides from the highest point of the tree, its wings outstretched and its tail stretched out. The maximum flight range is 140 m. During the flight, the woolly wing can adjust the direction by tilting the membrane.

Woolly wings feed exclusively on plant foods.

Mammals are amazing animals that have filled our planet from the hot countries of Africa to the cold Antarctica. They can be found almost everywhere, these unique inhabitants of our globe are very similar in behavior to humans: they also nurse their cubs, feed them with milk and take care of them. An interesting fact about mammals: earlier, such an animal as a beaver was considered a fish, therefore the Catholic Church used its meat on fasting days, Orthodox believers generally refused to eat such a product, because they were sure that he was a saint.

guinea pigs

Now in many countries, some mammals have been tamed and made domestic animals, such as a cow, a goat, an ox. An interesting fact about mammals: mice are by far the most common test subjects, which, by their example, show the side effect of one or another invented drug. It was also proven that mice can completely repair damaged heart muscle tissue, which shocked all the laboratories of the world. Previously, mammals did not have such an opportunity, since they are higher on the ladder of evolution.

scary beasts

Mammals also include tigers, jaguars, cougars, which are our planet. Despite their intimidating appearance, many scientists are still studying their behavior and habitat. Interesting facts about predatory mammals on the example of a tiger:

• one animal has more than 100 color stripes on its skin, while it is impossible to meet tigers with the same color;
• a small tiger can eat 30 kilograms of meat in one meal;
• if you shave an animal, the stripes will remain on the body;
• it is estimated that there are about 6,000 of these mammals left in the world;
• tigers mark territory with urine and scratches on doors;
• animals have strong and resistant tendons on their paws, so there were cases when this species of mammals remained standing after being killed.

Interesting facts about mammals can be found almost everywhere, often on some channels they show programs about animals, where they talk about their most incredible behavior and appearance.

Huge and not scary

This characteristic includes the elephant, which represents the family of mammals and has a large, downright huge size, striking, but not at all frightening. In thousands of zoos you can meet these amazing animals, they surprise with their size, the way they eat food, as well as the amount of fluid excreted from the body. Interesting facts about mammals (elephants):

• animals communicate with each other using high-frequency sounds that humans do not recognize;
• the average lifespan of elephants, like many people, is 70 years, but there are also centenarians;
• the heart of a mammal produces 30 beats per minute due to its large weight, reaching 25 kilograms;
• the emotionality of animals is amazing: they know how to rejoice, cry after the loss of relatives, they also tend to take care of the dying and sick members of the herd.

An interesting fact about mammals: in the 20th century, 2 public murders were committed. The first time Topsy the Elephant died from an electric shock for trampling 3 people. 13 years later, another female was sentenced to death by hanging.

Unique and fluffy

Another representatives of mammals are squirrels, which surprise with their eccentricity and the ability to jump over a wide variety of distances. It is these animals that can swim beautifully, raising their tail up, if she gets it wet, she will have to go to the bottom. An interesting fact about mammals using the example of a squirrel:

• forgetfulness: sometimes they do not remember exactly where they put their supplies for the winter, and therefore they occasionally have to spend a hungry winter;
• according to rumors, the squirrel feeds exclusively on cones, but this is not so, she does not mind eating eggs from nests, attacking young chicks or even hares;
• on the example of these animals it is impossible to know the time of their reproduction, since they do not tend to breed in captivity;
• women from Croatia were strictly forbidden to eat squirrel meat, as it was believed that the child would be born black.

No matter how absurd they may seem Interesting Facts about mammals, but they really are, and people sincerely believe in everything that is prescribed by their social concepts, race or faith. It is very scary when the inhabitants of the planet, for whatever reason, kill innocent animals, try to harm or even exterminate them contrary to the law.

growling beasts

Mammals also include bears, which are considered despite their awesome and huge appearance, some of them eat insects: ants and bugs. Interesting Insectivorous Mammal Bear Facts:

• in psychology, these animals are close to humans;
• some bears eat sweets, and therefore their teeth tend to deteriorate, fall out and even hurt;
• behind last years in Canada, polar animals killed seven people;
• when an antiseptic gets on a white bear, its fur turns purple;
• it is forbidden to use bear liver, because you can oversaturate the body with vitamin A;
• according to statistics, only pregnant females hibernate.

Murder or pardon

According to statistics, on our planet every year, numerous animals suffer from murder and abuse, which are not listed in the Red Book, but, unfortunately, are on the verge of extermination. Many people do not even think about the fact that animals are the same full-fledged inhabitants of the planet. Despite countless animal welfare associations, they continue to be killed. Only one thing is not clear, whether people are really indifferent to the world around us, or whether these associations work in such a way that all the money received is not actually spent on the direction.

If you start to respect wildlife and all its inhabitants, then you won’t need numerous contributions to protect them, you just need to start looking at yourself. Protecting all mammals is the duty of everyone, the duty of the highest

1) Systematic affiliation: toclass Mammals; infraclass higher beasts; superorder insectivorous

2) Features of the external structure: the limbs are not located along the sides of the body, as in reptiles, but under the body, because the belly of the animal does not touch the ground. They walk leaning on their fingers, with strong claws. Of all animals, only mammals have an outer ear - the auricle.

3) Features of the internal structure: the respiratory system of mammals is very perfect. It provides intensive gas exchange, which is one of the prerequisites for a high constant body temperature. The lungs of mammals are two spongy sacs in which the airways branch out intricately - the bronchi. The latter end with a huge number of thin-walled vesicles (alveoli) braided with blood capillaries. In the walls of the alveoli, gas exchange occurs, during which the blood gives off the carbon dioxide contained in it and is enriched with oxygen. Breathing movements due to contraction chest and diaphragms, in large animals they are rather slow (about 10 per minute), while in small animals they are very intense (up to 200 per minute), changing depending on the temperature of the environment and the body of the animal. Changing the frequency of respiratory movements is one of the means of regulating body temperature during overheating. circulatory system closed type. The circulatory system provides a greater intensity of blood flow, high level metabolism and maintaining a stable body temperature. The heart is four-chambered; there is only one - left - arch of the aorta, extending from the left ventricle. Having passed through the system of arteries along the systemic circulation, the blood returns to the heart through two large anterior vena cava and through a single posterior vena cava, which flows into the right atrium. From the right ventricle, venous blood is sent through the pulmonary artery to the lungs. After oxidation in the lungs, arterial blood returns through two pulmonary veins that empty into the left atrium. The excretory organs of mammals are a pair of bean-shaped kidneys located in the abdominal cavity on the sides of the lumbar girdles. The resulting urine enters the bladder through two ureters, and from there through the urethra is periodically discharged to the outside.

4) Features of reproduction: the reproductive organs of the male are paired testes with ducts, but they are carried out of the body cavity into the external genital organs, and the ducts open in the copulatory part of this organ. The reproductive organs of the female, compared to those of the reptile, are greatly changed; they consist of paired ovaries and two oviducts, which at some distance from the ovaries merged, forming a muscular sac - the uterus, and below it form a vagina that opens outwards.

5) Exceptional features: all mammals feed babies with milk. Milk contains all the substances necessary for the development of the body and is easily digested. Insectivores have well developed jaws and muscles for chewing. The main food of insectivores, according to the name, is insects, centipedes and worms . A feature common to all insectivores is a mobile muzzle extended into the proboscis, which indicates an excellent sense of smell. But hearing and vision, judging by the small size of the ears and eyes, these animals do not differ. However, they can emit and receive ultrasounds and, possibly, use echolocation to orient themselves in space.yu, like bats.