Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Placentalia
| Placentals | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Placentals from different orders. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Clade: | Eutheria |
| Infraclass: | Placentalia Owen, 1837 |
| Subgroups | |
|
For extinct groups, see text | |
Placental mammals (infraclass Placentalia /plæsənˈteɪliə/) are one of the three extant subdivisions of the class Mammalia, the other two being Monotremata and Marsupialia. Placental mammals contains the vast majority of extant mammals, which are partly distinguished from monotremes and marsupials in that the fetus is carried in the uterus of its mother to a relatively late stage of development. The name is something of a misnomer, considering that marsupials also nourish their fetuses via a placenta,[1] though for a relatively briefer period, giving birth to less-developed young, which are then nurtured for a period inside the mother's pouch. Placental mammals represents the only living group within Eutheria, which contains all mammals that are more closely related to placental mammals than they are to marsupials.
- ^ Renfree, M. B. (March 2010). "Review: Marsupials: placental mammals with a difference". Placenta. 31 Supplement: S21–6. doi:10.1016/j.placenta.2009.12.023. PMID 20079531.
Previous Page Next Page
