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Monotremes (/ ˈ m ɒ n ə t r iː m z /) are mammals of the order Monotremata. They are the only group of living mammals that lay eggs, rather than bearing live young. The extant monotreme species are the platypus and the four species of echidnas. Monotremes are typified by structural differences in their brains, jaws, digestive tract ...
The class Mammalia is divided into two subclasses based on reproductive techniques: egg-laying mammals (yinotherians or monotremes - see also Australosphenida), and mammals which give live birth . The latter subclass is divided into two infraclasses: pouched mammals ( metatherians or marsupials ), and placental mammals ( eutherians , for which ...
This category contains articles about all taxa below the subclass/order Monotremata - the platypus, the echidnas, and extinct species which are only known via fossil evidence. Subcategories This category has the following 5 subcategories, out of 5 total.
Echidnas are possibly named after Echidna, a creature from Greek mythology who was half-woman, half-snake, as the animal was perceived to have qualities of both mammals and reptiles. [citation needed] An alternative explanation is a confusion with Ancient Greek: ἐχῖνος, romanized: ekhînos, lit. 'hedgehog, sea urchin'. [5]
Australia is home to two of the five extant species of monotremes and the majority of the world's marsupials (the remainder are from Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia and the Americas). The taxonomy is somewhat fluid; this list generally follows Menkhorst and Knight [ 1 ] and Van Dyck and Strahan, [ 2 ] with some input from the global list ...
The class Mammalia is divided into two subclasses based on reproductive techniques: monotremes, which lay eggs, and therians, mammals which give live birth, which has two infraclasses: marsupials/metatherians and placentals/eutherians. See List of monotremes and marsupials, and for the clades and families, see Mammal classification ...
Ornithorhynchoidea is a superfamily of mammals containing the only living monotremes, the platypus and the echidnas, as well as their closest fossil relatives, to the exclusion of more primitive fossil monotremes of uncertain affinity.
The mammals included are only viviparous (marsupials and placentals) as some mammals, which are monotremes (including platypuses and echidnas) lay their eggs. A marsupial has a short gestation period, typically shorter than placental. For more information on how these estimates were ascertained, see Wikipedia's articles on gestational age.