Mammalia

Mammalia
    n 1: warm-blooded vertebrates characterized by mammary glands in
         the female [syn: {Mammalia}, {class Mammalia}]
    

Mammalia \Mam*ma"li*a\, n. pl. [NL., from L. mammalis. See
   {Mammal}.] (Zool.)
   The highest class of Vertebrata. The young are nourished for
   a time by milk, or an analogous fluid, secreted by the
   mammary glands of the mother.
   [1913 Webster]

   Note: Mammalia are divided into three subclasses; 
         [1913 Webster] I. {Placentalia}. This subclass embraces
         all the higher orders, including man. In these the
         fetus is attached to the uterus by a placenta.
         [1913 Webster] II. {Marsupialia}. In these no placenta
         is formed, and the young, which are born at an early
         state of development, are carried for a time attached
         to the teats, and usually protected by a marsupial
         pouch. The opossum, kangaroo, wombat, and koala are
         examples.
         [1913 Webster] III. {Monotremata}. In this group, which
         includes the genera {Echidna} and {Ornithorhynchus},
         the female lays large eggs resembling those of a bird
         or lizard, and the young, which are hatched like those
         of birds, are nourished by a watery secretion from the
         imperfectly developed mammae.
         [1913 Webster]
    

MAMMALIA, n.pl.  A family of vertebrate animals whose females in a
state of nature suckle their young, but when civilized and enlightened
put them out to nurse, or use the bottle.