Mammals

Mammals are defined by hair and by feeding their young on milk, and those two things underwrite most of what else is distinctive about them — sustained high activity, parental care that…

Species in catalogue613

Written profiles68

Regions present32

About mammals

Mammals are defined by hair and by feeding their young on milk, and those two things underwrite most of what else is distinctive about them — sustained high activity, parental care that extends well past birth, and the capacity to occupy cold places that would be closed to an animal depending on external heat. They are not a large group by species count, being outnumbered many times over by insects and considerably by birds and fish, but they include the largest animals that have ever lived and most of the animals people think of first. The group spans the egg-laying monotremes, the pouched marsupials, and the placental majority, and it has produced fliers, swimmers, burrowers and climbers from what began as a small nocturnal insect-eater.

Region	Climate	Species
Southern Africa	Warm and sunny with a summer rainy season.	66
African Savanna	Hot all year with dramatic wet and dry seasons, typically 25–35°C.	48
Mainland Southeast Asia	Hot and tropical with a heavy monsoon.	48
Indian Subcontinent	Hot, ruled by the dramatic monsoon rains.	45
Himalayas & High Asia	Bitterly cold with thin air, snow and fierce winds.	39
Arctic & Tundra	Long frozen winters far below 0°C and a short, cool summer.	34
North American Wilds	Four strong seasons with snowy winters and warm summers.	34
Mexico & Central America	Warm and tropical with a strong rainy season.	34
Arabia & the Middle East	Blistering desert heat with very little rain.	34
Central Asian Steppe	Harsh extremes — baking summers and deeply frozen winters.	33
African Rainforest	Hot, humid and rainy almost every day, around 25°C.	28
North American Desert	Scorching dry days and surprisingly cool nights.	26
West Africa	Hot and humid by the coast, drier toward the Sahel.	25
Eastern North America	Four full seasons — humid summers and snowy winters.	20
European Woodlands	Mild, temperate seasons with cool rain and gentle summers.	17
Antarctica	Earth's coldest, windiest place, plunging to −60°C.	15
Madagascar	Tropical and warm with distinct wet and dry seasons.	15
Pantanal & Cerrado	Hot, with a flooded wet season and a dry winter.	15
Amazon Rainforest	Warm and extremely humid with heavy rainfall all year round.	14
China's Bamboo Forests	Cool, misty and damp in the mountain forests.	14
Siberian Taiga	Brutally cold winters and short, mild summers.	14
Coral Reefs & Oceans	Warm, sunlit tropical seas in the shallows; cold and dark in the deep.	13
Sahara & Deserts	Scorching days above 45°C and surprisingly freezing nights.	11
Andes Mountains	Thin, cold mountain air — sunny days and frosty nights.	11
American South & Everglades	Hot, humid and subtropical with heavy summer storms.	11
Australian Outback	Hot, dry and blazing-bright across the interior.	9
Japan & Korea	Four seasons, from the snowy north to the mild south.	9
Southeast Asian Jungle	Hot and steamy with monsoon downpours.	8
New Guinea & Melanesia	Hot, humid and rainy all year.	7
Patagonia	Cool, dry and famously windswept.	6
Caribbean Islands	Warm, breezy and tropical all year.	2
New Zealand	Mild, wet and temperate.	2

Mammals

About mammals

Mammals with a full profile

Where mammals are recorded