Biology

Questions tagged [mammals]

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Questions related to mammals, animals that nurse their young, have a neocortex, and three middle ear bones.

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1answer
16 views

Why do fish and marine mammals need special low density adaptations for buoyancy?

When one reads about fish and marine mammals, it is always said that for example blubber of marine mammals helps them with buoyancy because it is so low density and similarly for example sharks have ...
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2answers
138 views

To which ungulate species does this tooth remainder belong?

Found on the beach in Çanakkale, Turkey. I have found a lot of these, but this is the first one that has parts like long teeth. My other findings have sometimes 4, sometimes 6 tubes. Very solid, ...
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82 views

If massive animals live longer, why do humans with gigantism die younger?

What I mean is humans suffering from gigantism (type 1 neurofibromatosis, Marfan syndrome, X-linked dominant acro-gigantism, et cetera) rarely live more than 5 decades (50 years). The same can be said ...
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1answer
39 views

Do whales ever just hang out on the surface breathing?

You only ever hear of whales surfacing for a brief second to exhale/inhale before they dive back down. But do they ever just stay at surface level, laying there with their blow hole up in the air, ...
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Have scientists tried to communicate with Sperm whales?

I see lots of passive studies of sperm whale click "language", usually focused on fingerprinting to identify groups and individuals. There's application of deep learning, and all sorts of ...
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1answer
45 views

Did mammals evolve from something with eusociality?

Eusociality (from Greek εὖ eu "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of ...
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1answer
137 views

Do beavers' tails hurt from being dragged?

I understand that when beavers walk on land, they drag their tails behind them on the ground. Their tails look quite large and rather heavy, and the ground is often rough - does dragging the tail not ...
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1answer
55 views

Bats observed hunting insect prey - any evidence of "handedness" (laterality) in circular flight pattern?

Whilst watching a bat hunting on the wing at dusk (most likely was a species common to my urban UK location, e.g. pipistrelle) its flight pattern around the garden comprised circles, several metres in ...
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1answer
2k views

Specific mechanism behind lethality of yellow coat color in mice

Our high school genetics chapter has some extra information about L.Cuenot. It only covered his research, and the fact that mice homozygous for yellow coat color would die before birth. It was an ...
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1answer
173 views

Mystery rodent in Winnipeg

I spotted this rodent in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on September 6, 2020. It is about 10 inches long. What is it?
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1answer
585 views

What is the animal in Nosferatu movie? [closed]

I was watching Nosferatu, and this dog-like animal appeared, with very curious stripes. I was wondering if this is clearly a specific animal, and which one it is, or if it's too mixed up and low ...
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1answer
81 views

Why do mammals rarely have eyespots?

An eyespot is a marking to mimic the eyes. Many examples of eyespots can be found in fish, reptiles (including birds), and insects. Recently Radford 2020 has shown that artificial eyespots can reduce ...
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3answers
97 views

What is the primary cause of death for small animals in urban and suburban areas?

Small birds (sparrows, robins, jays, finches) and mammals (squirrels, rats, opossums, raccoons) are a common sight in many urban and suburban communities with green space. However, I observe carcasses ...
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1answer
24 views

How does a sheep's fleece impact its tolerance for high temperatures?

I am interested in whether a sheep endures more stress when its environment is hot if it has a full fleece or if it is recently shorn. Put another way, at the extremes, is a sheep more likely to die ...
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1answer
92 views

Has a primate species ever weighed the average mass of a tonne (1000 kg)?

If so, why can't primates weight a metric ton?
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35 views

What coronaviruses have been identified in racoon dogs?

Christian Dorsten says in an (Apr 26) interview in the Guardian that racoon dogs as [intermediate] source of coronavirues have been overlooked (in China): Q: What do we know about that intermediate ...
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1answer
42 views

In north America is their mammals that can survive from falling from hundreds of feet? [closed]

Like animals have great attributes but is their any mammals that have unique attributes to survive such fate of death?
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2answers
134 views

Why animals haven’t yet evolve in 2020? [closed]

In past when I was born like 1990s I notice most animals haven’t evolved in 30yrs. Example cats haven’t gain more muscular body as to be strong to defend themselves from predators like well many ...
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1answer
173 views

Did my wildlife camera take pictures of coyotes?

A wildlife camera took these photographs of these animals. These are the only pictures my camera collected of them. This picture was taken in the central interior of British Columbia, Canada. The ...
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2answers
482 views

Like Mother Cape Buffalo,do remaining mammal mother species also try to protect their babies from being eaten by predative animals?

Some statistics say that on earth there are approximately 5500 mammal species.I have seen a video of Mother Cape Buffalo protecting it's calf from being eaten by predative animals.Like Mother Cape ...
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0answers
81 views

Why do some mammals have incomplete orbits?

I've noticed that a lot of carnivorous/omnivorous mammals (most, if not all the members of carnivora and some ancestral cetaceans), as well as some herbivores (marsupials), have incomplete orbits that ...
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1answer
48 views

Why are Aardvarks capable of burrowing given their size?

I was wondering if large animals could possibly dig extensive burrows for themselves to live in. The polar bear burrows, but snow is not dirt. The aardvark goes about 4' long, ~150 lbs: similar to a ...
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1answer
92 views

Why are smaller mammals more prone to cancer and tumors

especially rats and mice usually develop cancer and tumors very fast, reducing their life expectancy. From an evolutionary point of view, how come that these mammals are so prone to cancer and tumors ...
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1answer
231 views

Are there any animals that are unable to hear the human voice?

Humans and animals have different hearing ranges. The frequency range of a human, for example, is stated with 20 Hz to 20 kHz, whereas the fundamental voice frequency is stated with 125 Hz for men, ...
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2answers
153 views

Did any warm blooded animals evolve back into cold blooded?

Pretty much as title says - wondering if evolution can go from mammal back to reptile - either in theory or practice.
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72 views

Eagles carrying off a goat to its nest: How heavy is the young goat? How strong is the eagle? Here is my guess:

I posted a related question, here, trying to identify the exact subspecies of animals. In the documentary El Hombre y la Tierra, a golden eagle carries off some sort of juvenile(?) goat. The Japanese ...
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1answer
176 views

What pigment is responsible for the formation of blue skin color in some animals?

Not long ago I read about Vervet monkey. Here's picture: My question is what causes this blue coloration of the scrotum? I don't mean evolutionary need (e.g. attracting females), but what pigment or ...
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39 views

Why is there such a long interval between ages of sexual maturity and of reproduction in female chimpanzees?

There seems to be some disagreement on the ages at which female chimpanzees typically reach sexual maturity and when they typically first give birth, but regardless, different sources seem to agree ...
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0answers
200 views

Do animals like Seals feel cold on their skin?

Whenever there is a documentary about animals and you get to the colder regions, you will hear about Seals and their layer of blubber keeping them warm. But the skin is on top of the blubber, in ...
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0answers
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What kind of skull is this-I found it on the beach in Cape May

I am hoping someone can help identify this skull! We found it on the beach in Cape May. The skull size is about 4 inch in length. Thank you.
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20 views

Age until physical growth ceases, mammals

Fairly basic, but I am seeking a table showing how many years from birth it takes for the best-known mammals to stop growing. (Including the latest on humans - ie. 0-17..?).
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1answer
228 views

What are the differences between mammal and insect digestion of cellulose?

I know that digestion of cellulose is difficult in mammals and requires a lot of steps. But I am fascinated by the idea of one day achieving human digestion of cellulose. Which got me thinking about ...
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1answer
338 views

Do male skunks have teats?

Simple question. Do male skunks (striped skunk, eastern US/Canada if it matters) have teats? Occasionally want to identify road-kill, but don't know if teats are diagnostic for females. I believe ...
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0answers
56 views

Mammal Statistics about Natural Death Versus Being Killed?

Is there data determining what percentage of mammals die a natural death (disease, old age) and what percentage die due to being killed and/or eaten by other mammals? In watching wildlife ...
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1answer
81 views

What about this bat?

This happened in LaGrange GA. We heard some crawling around behind one of the faux-wood shutters on our front porch. So I eased it back and saw this: If you can't make out the scale, the furry part ...
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0answers
34 views

Are there poisons that affect only mammals but not reptiles

Are there poisons that affect only mammals but not reptiles or crustaceans? E.g. hemotoxins which affect hemoglobin but not hemocyanin or specific Na+ channels? Looking for a "nice" poison/disease as ...
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1answer
102 views

How exactly does symbolic language for apes work?

I'm talking about the panels with lots of colored symbols on them you sometimes see in documentaries and the like. Apes point at the symbols in a specific order and in this way can communicate with ...
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1answer
42 views

Limbs in synapsids

Within synapsids, there was a change from a lizard-like sprawling posture (like in pelycosaurs) to a more erect stance. Non-eucynodont eutherapsids seem to have had a facultatively erect hindlimb and ...
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1answer
83 views

How are the first mammary glands thought to have functioned?

I happened upon a book (not about biology) containing this text: A life-changing birth occurred on the planet about 190 million years ago [...] the first tiny shrew like creature brought forth an ...
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2answers
203 views

Why aren't mammals and reptiles considered amphibians?

We've all heard it: birds descend from dinosaurs, so they're dinosaurs too. But this got me thinking: doesn't this mean that, for instance, all terrestrial vertebrates – including humans – are ...
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1answer
245 views

Why do some animals have beards?

Why do some animals such as some Goats, Ibex, Orangutan etc, have long well-shaped beard like men?
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1answer
93 views

Are there known life expectancy differences in non human mammals by sex?

In humans either for biological or cultural reasons there are life expectancy differences by sex. But how about non human mammals? Are there known life expectancy differences in non human mammals by ...
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0answers
43 views

What do chimpz/bonobos/orangutangs/gorillas feed their babies with?

I just read this question and it made me curious about what a more original baby diet would look like. So, at what age do our closest relatives in the animal kingdom start giving their offspring more ...
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0answers
302 views

Which mammal produces the most milk?

I'm searching for the mammal species that can produce the most milk during lactation. I Googled it, but it says dairy cattle which biologically speaking is not right answer, because a baby whale can ...
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0answers
94 views

Are humans the only primates being engaged in group sex?

There are quite many examples of humans being involved in group sex. I won't say it is a common thing and won't say whether it is "natural" or "cultural" (but "cultural" only means induced to majority ...
3
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0answers
348 views

How old is the action of sneezing?

Is there an estimate for when the ability of sneezing evolved? A little bit of research, and some critical review of my memories tell me that: Many, if not maybe all mammals sneeze. Some reptiles ...
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3answers
5k views

Why is wombat scat (feces) shaped like cubes?

I've heard that wombat scat is cube shaped, but I don't understand how that can happen. Has anyone studied the phenomenon? What would the evolutionary pressure have been to cause this?
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1answer
341 views

Are bears related to dogs in a similar way to how cats are related to 'panthers'?

I've tried searching on Wikipedia but I couldn't find what family dogs belonged to. Ursidae is 'bears' and Canis is 'dogs' ; Panthera is big cats like:- tigers and jaguars is what I know.
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1answer
2k views

Is there any known reason why 6 leg mammals are only found in mutations? [duplicate]

Taking a look in internet you can find photos of mutated mammals with 6 legs. Some cows with legs in unnatural positions were shown in website versions of widely known newspapers (you can easily guess ...
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3answers
88 views

Could a mammal convert ingested dissolved CO2 to usable energy?

I'm trying to find out if it's possible that a mammal could orally ingest dissolved CO2 and convert it to energy for body heat, organ function, etc. Unfortunately, most of the scientific sources I've ...

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