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Home , Eutheria, Hyrax, Lagomorpha, Marsupial, Pangolin, Rodent

type of found mostly in . Marsupi- Within the are the als give to and suckle live young like the Eu- monkeys, the humans and other therians, although birth occurs at a very early stage apes. Other members, include of development and the young are then reared in a , bush babies, (11). If you visit the Centenary Case and . Our closest living relatives are the chimpanzees, (opposite case 3) you can see the of a Tasma- followed by gorillas. nian () , which became extinct in 1930. There are 27 mammalian orders. We have 18 of them on display: are primitive , laying (10) from which their young hatch before develop- We hope that you have enjoyed your short tour of M a m m a l ment in the pouch. also differs in this Location Mammal orders group as they Case 14 , Rodentia, Chiroptera () Diversity Trail have no , Carnivora, Artiodactyla (even-toed ungu- Case 24 lates) milk simply oozes Perissodactyla (odd-toed ) out of the mam- Hyracoidea () mary gland. Only Pholidonta () three (moles) exist to- () day; the short- Monotremata, (, and long-beaked Case 25 , possoms) (carnivorous ) (4, 5 see above) and the duck-billed platy- Didelpymorphia (South American marsu- pus (6, 7). pials) Case 26, case, Case 27 Primates ceiling ( and ) Case 27 Primates Welcome to the family! Museum floor () This case contains on Campus ( and ) Carnivora, Erinaceomorpha () , an which Centenary Cases Carnivora, Chiroptera, Dasyuromorphia includes humans. Starting with the Chimpanzee (8) mammals in the Cole museum and will visit us again move anti-clockwise soon. around the case, taking a close look at the skele- Leaflet by Amelia Burton and Lauren Winstanley. tons. Notice the similari- For more information: www.rdg.ac.uk/colemuseum ties and differences. Look at the length of the chim- panzee’s arms compared to its legs; this allows them to walk with their upper body held high. Mammals in the Museum

true orcas (picture: Orcinus orca killer whales). the small -like What is a mammal? . Originally they Case 26 Cetacea were thought to be Mammals are with backbones that feed The (2,3 and 6) is the smallest member of related to the Peris- their young with milk and are, for the most part, the Cetacea which can vary from 1.5m ( por- sodactyls (odd-toed covered with . They are divided into: poise) to 20 m (blue ) in length. Cetaceans are ungulates) such as divided into the Odontoceti (toothed whales including the specimen  placental mammals () the porpoise and false orca) and the Mysticeti (baleen in this case (zoologist mistook a  marsupials () whales such as the ). You can see a nar- primitive horse for a hyrax), but again molecular whal tusk in the case to your right which is actually a studies have altered this idea.  monotremes (). that has grown through the male whale’s upper The flying (8) belongs to the order Chirop- This taxonomic guide to the mammal specimens in lip. Baleen is an amazing structure used to catch tiny tera which is split into two sub-orders. Zoologists the museum is to demonstrate the huge variation plankton in the water (5). It is made from the are still arguing about the relationships between in appearance and lifestyle that mammals adopt. , which is the same substance that your hair the old world fruit bats (Megachiroptera) which and nails are made from. If you look in case 24, you don't use echolocation and the new world bats What is the first thing you see as you enter? can see a (13) that also has strange struc- (Microchiroptera) which use echolocation (sound tures made from keratin. Chances are it is the , the biggest waves) to detect their prey. The most widely land on Earth. can weigh up to 7 Case 24 Mammal Diversity supported theory is that the , like this tonnes. Until recently, zoologists believed that flying fox, are more closely related to there were only two species of elephants alive to- Look at the two speci- (flying lemurs —see picture below) and primates day; the Indian and the African. Recent DNA anal- mens (5 and 6). This mammal (like you) than the microbats. See the special ysis has revealed that the small forest elephant, belongs to the order Artiodactyla exhibits case for more detail. previously thought to be a subspecies of the Afri- which are the closest relatives to can elephant, is in fact a species in itself. the Cetacea. Artiodactyla are the Bats are the world’s only true flying mammals, even-toed ungulates, which in- but there are Look up! clude hippos, sheep, cows and others that use . Recent DNA studies have “falling with On the ceiling suggested that cetaceans evolved from hippo-like land style” to get above you is anoth- -living ungulates. The two mammal groups have been around, like the er giant. This is a merged to form the new superorder Cetartiodactyla. flying false , in case 25 (see an animal that be- Compare the hartebeest to the porpoise. Although overleaf). longs to the order they are closely related, each has evolved to suit their Cetacea. The false lifestyle. You can see how the study of alone killer whale is not a can be quite misleading in revealing evolutionary rela- Case 25 Monotremes & Marsupials whale, but belongs to the closely related tionships. family. It is so named because of its similarity to The flying phalanger is a marsupial, an ancient This case holds a surprising relative to the elephant: