1.
[syn: Mammalia, class Mammalia]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Mammalia
n 1: warm-blooded vertebrates characterized by mammary glands in
the female [syn: Mammalia, class Mammalia]
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):
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.