Book contents
2 - Mammalian Classification and Evolution
from Part I - Carnival of the Animals
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 May 2021
Summary
The last 25 years have seen significant developments in the fields of mammalian classification and evolutionary biology. Molecular genetic techniques have increasingly been applied to test traditional classifications that were based upon fossil evidence and comparative anatomical studies of extant taxa. As well as confirming many of the established tenets of mammalian classification, some fresh insights have emerged as a result of these endeavours. The following brief review of the phylogeny and basic biology of the 27 extant orders of mammals is designed to provide the reader with a sound basis for the discussions of copulatory behaviour, reproductive biology and evolution that unfold in the ensuing chapters.
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- Information
- Mammalian SexualityThe Act of Mating and the Evolution of Reproduction, pp. 6 - 54Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021