Mammalian Families: Monotremes, Marsupials, Insectivorans, Primates, Bats, and Carnivorans

Vocabulary practice flashcards defining morphological and skeletal diagnostic characteristics for 43 mammalian families across monotremes, marsupials, insectivorans, primates, bats, and carnivorans.

Tachyglossidae

A monotreme family characterized by an extremely long, narrow, pointed skull, adult lack of teeth, a very slender rod-like mandible, and powerful digging limbs and claws on a complete skeleton.

Ornithorhynchidae

A monotreme family characterized by a broad, flattened, duckbill-shaped snout, laterally expanding premaxillae, horny grinding plates instead of teeth in adults, and a skeleton with webbed feet and a flattened tail.

Didelphidae

A marsupial family possessing a long, relatively slender skull with $5/4$ incisors, prominent canines, an often well-developed sagittal crest, and an opposable, clawless hallux with a long tail.

Dasyuridae

A carnivorous marsupial family with prominent canines, numerous small incisors, sharp cheek teeth, and an inflected angular process on the jaw; includes the Tasmanian devil, which possesses a particularly broad, robust skull.

Thylacinidae

A marsupial family featuring an elongated, dog-like skull with large canines and a relatively long tooth row with numerous sharp cheek teeth, distinguished from Canidae by marsupial jaw anatomy.

Myrmecobiidae

A marsupial family featuring a long, narrow skull, elongated snout, small narrow mandible, and numerous small, relatively reduced teeth that form a more delicate dentition than that of dasyurids.

Peramelidae

A marsupial family characterized by a very long, narrow skull, slender zygomatic arches, lower incisors approximately equal in size, reduced canines, three functional forefoot digits, and syndactylous hindfoot digits.

Phalangeridae

A marsupial family featuring large, forward-projecting first lower incisors, a broad cranium often with a sagittal crest, robust and wide zygomatic arches, a long tail, and an opposable hallux.

Phascolarctidae

A marsupial family characterized by large forward-projecting lower incisors, a broad skull with a relatively short snout, three upper incisors and one lower incisor per side, a vestigial tail, and forelimbs and hindlimbs of relatively similar size.

Vombatidae

A marsupial family with one large, chisel-shaped upper incisor per side, large lower incisors, no canines, a large diastema, and exceptionally broad, laterally flaring zygomatic arches.

Macropodidae

A marsupial family possessing a long rostrum, large lower incisors, a very deep masseteric fossa, enormous hindlimbs and feet relative to forelimbs, a long tail, and small syndactylous second and third hindfoot digits.

Tupaiidae

An order/family characterized by a large postorbital process forming a bar with the zygomatic arch, a pointed snout, an un-enlarged auditory bulla, and a palate without large perforations.

Cynocephalidae

A family characterized by broad, comb-like, forward-projecting lower incisors, a broad and flattened braincase, and upper incisors separated by a large central gap.

Macroscelididae

A family characterized by a palate containing a series of large perforations, enlarged auditory bullae, a small or absent postorbital process, and hindlimbs that are much longer than the forelimbs.

Orycteropodidae

A family possessing a very long, slender skull and snout, a complete zygomatic arch, no incisors or canines, and columnar cheek teeth composed of dentine tubules.

Soricidae

A family characterized by an absent zygomatic arch, two distinct condyles on the mandible, a large hooked first upper incisor, a forward-projecting first lower incisor, and sometimes red-tipped teeth.

Talpidae

A family characterized by an elongated, flattened skull and a slender zygomatic arch; typical digging forms possess an extremely broad, blocky humerus and broad, paddle-like forefeet.

Solenodontidae

A family possessing a greatly enlarged first upper incisor directed slightly backward, an enlarged second lower incisor with a deep groove, an incomplete zygomatic arch, and an alisphenoid canal.

Erinaceidae

A family characterized by large canine-like first upper incisors, squarish upper molars with rounded cusps, a slender zygomatic arch, and the absence of an auditory bulla.

Lemuridae

A primate family characterized by an elongated braincase and rostrum, a forward-projecting lower toothcomb, very small upper incisors separated by a central gap, and large orbits with prominent ridges.

Indriidae

A primate family with a relatively short rostrum, a total of $30$ teeth, a lower toothcomb with four teeth instead of six, and hindlimbs much longer than forelimbs.

Daubentoniidae

A primate family possessing very large chisel-shaped upper and lower incisors, an extremely short rostrum, medium-sized orbits lacking prominent ridges, and an extremely long, slender third finger.

Tarsiidae

A primate family characterized by enormous eye orbits relative to the skull, a very short rostrum, a bony auditory tube, elongated tarsal bones, and long hindlimbs.

Cebidae

A New World monkey family with a dental formula of $2.1.3.2\text{--}3 / 2.1.3.2\text{--}3$, three premolars per quadrant, and an absence of ischial callosities.

Cercopithecidae

An Old World monkey family featuring prominent bony external ear canals, close nostrils directed forward or downward, presence of ischial callosities, and non-prehensile tails.

Hylobatidae

A primate family possessing extremely elongated forelimbs adapted for brachiation, bunodont molars with distinct cusps and no transverse lophs, no tail, and no sagittal crest.

Hominidae

A primate family featuring an enormously inflated braincase, broadly flattened incisors, no tail or ischial callosities, and a simian shelf on the mandible in nonhuman genera that is absent in Homo.

Pteropodidae

A bat family with a clawed second wing digit relatively independent of the third digit, a long rostrum, a large postorbital process sometimes forming a complete bar, and cheek teeth with indistinct cusps.

Noctilionidae

A bat family characterized by enormously enlarged hindfeet with curved claws for catching fish, fused premaxillae to each other and maxillae, no postorbital process, and a tail extending to the middle of the tail membrane.

Phyllostomidae

A bat family defined by premaxillae fused to each other and maxillae, absence of a postorbital process, normal-sized hindfeet, variable cheek teeth, and usually a noseleaf.

Vespertilionidae

A bat family characterized by a premaxillary gap, tritubercular cheek teeth, no postorbital process, a long tail enclosed in a large membrane, and a well-developed calcar.

Molossidae

A bat family characterized by a tail extending far beyond the tail membrane, a broad rostrum roughly as wide as long, short broad hindfeet, and stiff bristle fringes on digits one and five.

Felidae

A carnivoran family with a very short, blunt rostrum, rounded braincase, extremely small or absent last upper molar, four digits on the hindfoot, and limbs of approximately equal size.

Hyaenidae

A carnivoran family featuring a pointed rostrum longer than cats, forelimbs larger than hindlimbs, and a very small or absent last upper molar; dentition ranges from massive and bone-crushing to delicate and reduced in aardwolves.

Herpestidae

A carnivoran family characterized by an auditory bulla constricted in the middle with a complete internal septum, well-developed carnassials, an elongated skull with pointed muzzle, and an elongated body with short limbs.

Canidae

A carnivoran family with a long rostrum, rounded cranium, more than one upper molar, well-developed carnassials, a mastoid process smaller than the paroccipital process, and digitigrade posture with four hindfoot digits.

Ursidae

A carnivoran family characterized by a very large, elongated last upper molar, weakly developed carnassials, plantigrade posture with five digits per foot, and a large skull generally greater than $13\,\text{cm}$.

Procyonidae

A carnivoran family characterized by a rounded or squarish last upper molar that is not elongated, weakly developed carnassials, five digits per foot, and a skull generally smaller than $13\,\text{cm}$.

Mustelidae

A carnivoran family with a relatively flat skull, short rostrum, dumbbell-shaped upper molars, a palate extending posteriorly beyond the upper tooth rows, and a postmandibular process that may curve around the mandibular fossa.

Mephitidae

A carnivoran family possessing squarish upper molars approximately as wide as long, poorly developed carnassials, an alisphenoid canal, and a palate that ends just posterior to the upper tooth rows.

Otariidae

A pinniped family characterized by a well-developed supraorbital process, presence of an alisphenoid canal, transverse grooves on upper medial incisors, forward-rotating hindlimbs, and small external ears.

Odobenidae

A pinniped family featuring enormous tusk-like upper canines, no lower incisors, peg-like cheek teeth, an enormous mastoid process, and hindlimbs capable of rotating forward.

Phocidae

A pinniped family characterized by an absent or rudimentary supraorbital process, absent alisphenoid canal, multicusped cheek teeth, no external ear pinnae, and posteriorly directed hindlimbs that cannot rotate forward.