In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous systems.
Mammalogy has also been known as “mastology,” “theriology,” and “therology.” The archive of number of mammals on earth is constantly growing, but is currently set at 6,495 different mammal species including recently extinct. There are 5,416 living mammals identified on earth and roughly 1,251 have been newly discovered since 2006. The major branches of mammalogy include natural history, taxonomy and systematics, anatomy and physiology, ethology, ecology, and management and control.
Mammalogy branches off into other taxonomically-oriented disciplines such as primatology (study of primates), and cetology (study of cetaceans). Like other studies, mammalogy is also a part of zoology which is also a part of biology, the study of all living things.
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