Placental, as higher mammals. Features of the structure and life

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Insectivores.

Representatives of this order are small animals (3.5-40 cm long), distributed on all continents except Australia and South America. Relatively primitive group. Their numerous teeth are not divided into groups and are similar to each other. The brain is small, hemispheres without convolutions. Most insectivores eat not only insects, but also other invertebrates: worms, mollusks, spiders. Large representatives of the detachment feed on amphibians, lizards, small animals.

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There are about 370 species in the order. In our country, hedgehogs, moles, and shrews are common (Fig. 208). In wetlands in Central Russia a rare animal lives - the Russian muskrat. Her body is about 20 cm long, and the length of the tail is the same. The muskrat has thick soft brownish-brown silvery fur. Included in the Red Book of Russia.

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Chiroptera, or Bats.

Representatives of this detachment have adapted to flight. A leathery membrane is stretched between the forelimbs, torso, hind limbs and tail. The sternum has a keel, to which the flying muscles are attached (Fig. 209).

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At bats two fingers on the front limbs and all fingers on the back are free. These animals have echolocation: they emit ultrasounds and pick up their reflection from objects. Therefore, even in the dark, bats do not stumble on objects and catch insects. Representatives of bats usually have a body length in the range of 3-40 cm.

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There are 850 species in the order. In Russia, the most common are the common night bat, the red evening bat, and several types of kozhanov. All eat insects. Large frugivorous bats are common in the tropics. Vampires live in South America, who feed on the blood of large animals, spread plague and rabies in cattle.

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Rodents.

The detachment unites more than 1500 modern species mammals. Animals of small and medium sizes (Fig. 210). The smallest mice are about 5 cm long, and the largest rodent is the South American capybara, or capybara, reaching 130 cm in length. The rodents are numerous species mice, voles, ground squirrels, marmots, beavers and squirrels.

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Rodents are mainly herbivores. Their well-developed incisors have an important feature: their front surface is covered with strong enamel, therefore, with hard food, they grind off faster from behind than from the front, and always remain sharp. The incisors are constantly growing. There are no fangs, so there is an empty space between the incisors and the molars. The molars have a flat surface.

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Rodents are common in all natural and climatic zones, absent only in the Arctic ice deserts and in Antarctica. Many dig elaborate burrows and spend most of their lives underground; There are species that lead near-aquatic and arboreal lifestyles. Many rodents have valuable fur, they are hunted and bred in cages. These are the squirrel, muskrat, nutria, chinchilla.

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Lagomorphs.

Representatives of this order are in many ways similar to rodents (Fig. 211). Like rodents, they feed on plant foods, have well-developed incisors, only in the upper jaw they have two pairs of incisors: longer ones on the outside, short ones are located behind them on the inside. The intestine, like that of rodents, is elongated, with a well-developed caecum, where solid fiber is digested.

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The white hare and the hare are common species in the forest and forest-steppe regions of Russia. They have importance as game animals. The wild rabbit lives in the south of Western Europe. Numerous breeds of domestic rabbit were bred from him.

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Rodents and lagomorphs are the most numerous placental groups that play an important role in biocenoses as primary consumers and themselves serve as prey for predatory animals - reptiles, birds, and mammals. Have important economic importance like furry animals. However, they are pests of cultivated plants and carriers of diseases.

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Predatory.

There are more than 200 species of animals of medium and large size in the detachment: the length of the body of the smallest animal, the weasel, is about 11 cm (weight 100 g); body length of the largest animals - tiger and polar bear about 3 m (bear weight up to 700 kg). They feed on animal food, the vast majority are active predators (Fig. 212).

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Carnivores have well-developed teeth: large pointed fangs, the last fourth premolars of the upper jaw and the first molars on the lower jaw are large, have sharp high tops and are called predatory teeth. They serve to gnaw bones and tendons. The wool of predatory animals is long and thick.

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They run well, relying on the entire foot or on the toes. The stomach is simple, the intestines are relatively short. Predatory animals are characterized by complex behavior in obtaining food and caring for offspring. They have well developed hemispheres of the forebrain, which have convolutions.

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Conclusions.

Predatory animals play an important role in natural ecosystems: they hunt insectivorous and herbivorous birds and mammals, eat amphibians and reptiles. Large predators attack smaller members of their order. The role of predators as regulators of the number of small rodents, including pests of cultivated plants, is great.

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• Predators have a healing effect on prey populations, destroying diseased animals as they are easier to get. By this they prevent the spread of mass diseases - epizootics (see the section on fish breeding).
• There are 7 families in the order Predatory. Let's get acquainted with the main ones

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Wolf family

combines strong slender animals with a large head and an elongated muzzle. The auricles are large, with a pointed apex. Legs with blunt non-retractable claws. This family includes such animals as wolves, dogs, jackals, foxes, arctic foxes.

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These animals pursue prey sometimes during group hunting. One of the first animals, man domesticated the wolf. Many breeds of dogs have been bred, including hunting, guard, hounds, and decorative ones.

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feline family

combines medium and large animals with a flexible body and a rounded head. The eyes are large. The claws of all, except for the cheetah, are long, sharp, retractable. The prey is ambushed. The cats include the tiger, lion, leopard, lynx, and also different breeds domestic cat.

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The cheetah lives in the savannas and deserts of Africa and South Asia. Unlike other cats, it pursues prey, reaching speeds of up to 112 km/h. The cheetah is highly tameable and was previously used for hunting. The number of cheetahs in nature is very small, so it is included in the IUCN Red List.

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Bear family

includes large massive animals. Thus, the body weight of a brown bear is about 600 kg, and that of a white bear is about 1000 kg. The head of the bears is large, the auricles are small and rounded, the eyes are small. When walking, it rests on the foot. It sneaks up to prey and in a throw develops a speed of up to 50 km / h. Bears give birth to very small cubs: a brown she-bear in a den gives birth to a cub about 20 cm long and weighing 500 g.

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Cunya family

includes small and medium-sized animals with a flexible elongated body and short limbs. In animals leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle, a swimming membrane is stretched between the fingers. The wool is thick and soft. Among mustelids there are many valuable fur-bearing animals, such as sable, marten, mink, otter, ermine, which are hunted. Some mustelids are bred on fur farms.

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This subclass includes the vast majority of modern mammals, which break up into numerous and extremely diverse orders. However, all of them, in contrast to the marsupials: 1) are devoid of a bag and marsupials; 2) the embryo develops, being connected with the mother with the help of a real placenta, the cubs are always born more or less developed and can suckle milk; 3) the brain has a highly developed secondary cerebral fornix - neopallium, both halves of which are connected by the corpus callosum; 4) body temperature in adults is high and constant; 5) as a rule, milk and constant change of teeth are well expressed.

Thanks to the height of organization and the perfect psyche, placentals were able to settle not only over the entire land of the globe, but also throughout the World Ocean (cetaceans and pinnipeds), having successfully withstood the struggle for existence with such animals as fish, which are excellently adapted to life in water, and penetrate into air environment where they can compete with birds (bats).

The ancestors of placental mammals were the so-called pantotheres - small animals with three tuberculate teeth that existed in the Triassic jurassic. The first placental mammals appeared at the end Cretaceous. These were primitive insectivorous animals, and from them, in turn, various orders of the subclass under consideration originated.

Order Insectivora. This is the most primitive order of placental mammals. It includes small or small animals, characterized by continuous rows of pointed teeth, poorly differentiated into groups of teeth, a small, devoid of convolutions forebrain, a bicornuate or bifid uterus. From external signs insectivores are characterized by a small movable proboscis, which ends with a muzzle.

The limbs are usually five-fingered, armed with small claws, and almost always plantigrade. The way of life is terrestrial (often burrowing), less often semi-aquatic, and in one group ( tupai) - semi-woody.

Insectivores are distributed in all parts of the world, excluding Australia and South America.

In the fossil state, insectivores have been known since the Upper Cretaceous, i.e., they are the most ancient of placental mammals. At present, this detachment is represented by scattered, widely separated groups, of which only shrews are widely distributed around the globe.

Within Europe and Siberia there are numerous shrews, belonging to two main genera - shrews and shrews; four species of hedgehogs, of which the most widely distributed hedgehog; mole, of which the most famous common mole, and muskrat.

Shrews outwardly resemble mice, but are easily distinguished from them by the shape and arrangement of teeth, velvety fur and a sharp muzzle. They lead a very mobile lifestyle, live mainly in damp and wet places. Sometimes they run into houses. They are very predatory, attacking even small rodents that exceed their own size, although the main food of shrews is insects and worms, which they bring significant benefits. However, in forestry, they can also be harmful, eating a lot of spruce, pine, and birch seeds that have fallen to the ground, which makes it difficult for the natural regeneration of the forest. In addition, shrews serve as hosts for larvae and nymphs of ticks that store viruses dangerous to humans, and support the existence of natural foci of a number of vector-borne diseases.

The most widespread common shrew and water shrew, or bill, which lives near the water and swims excellently with the help of its hind legs, trimmed with a fringe of coarse hair, and a tail compressed from the sides. mine relatively big booty(of frogs, mammals) the banknote is helped by the poisonousness of saliva, which, when bitten, enters the wounds of the victim, weakens or even kills it. American short-tailed shrew poisonous secretion of the submandibular glands, the duct of which opens at the base of the anterior incisors.

Distributed in the south of Western Europe and in the Caucasus and Central Asia baby shrew and taiga baby shrew having a body length of about 4 cm - the smallest mammals.

hedgehogs, which have a peculiar ability to defend themselves by curling up, turning into a prickly ball, benefit by destroying insects, rodents; they also catch lizards, snakes, frogs, and destroy ground nests of birds. These are the only of our insectivores that hibernate.

Mole, widespread in the forest and forest-steppe belts of the European part of Russia and the Caucasus, is a burrowing underground animal, the whole structure of which is remarkably adapted to such a life: its body is bar-shaped, with a head pointed at a wedge, short but powerful forepaws, armed with strong claws, thick velvety, lint-free fur; tiny eyes have underdeveloped optic nerves, and auricles are completely absent.

Muskrat, living only with us in the Volga and Don basins, is an aquatic animal. Its thick fur does not allow water to pass through, large hind limbs, framed by a brush of elastic hair, and a tail compressed from the sides, covered with scales, serve as organs of fast, dexterous swimming. Lives in deep burrows, the outlet of which is located under water. Highly valued as a fur animal, but prey is now prohibited.

Separate groups of insectivores show remarkable convergence with rodents; So, shrews look like mice moles - on blind rats hedgehogs- partly on porcupine, African jumpers, jumping on one hind legs - on jerboas, and arboreal South Asian tupai- for protein. It must be said that according to a different classification tupai- This is a family of semi-monkeys. However, new data confirm the close relationship of these animals with either insectivores or semi-monkeys. Therefore, it was proposed to separate them into a separate detachment of Tupai.

Detachment Woollywings. This applies only colewing, which surprisingly combines the characteristics of insectivores, bats and prosimians and is thus a good example of the "composite type". It is about the size of a cat and is distinguished by a wide, hairy membrane covering all four limbs and the tail. The woolly wing is a real arboreal animal, which, thanks to the membrane, can make long gliding jumps, as if flying from tree to tree. Eats plant food. Lives in tropical forests Southeast Asia and neighboring islands. Fossil winged wings are known only from the Upper Paleocene and Lower Eocene of North America.

Order Chiroptera, or Bats. Bats have much in common with insectivores and can be considered as a special branch of the latter, adapted to flight. The forelimbs of bats are modified into real, but completely peculiar wings: all fingers of the forelimbs, except for I, are very much elongated, and between them, the sides of the body and the hind limbs, a thin, hairless flying membrane is stretched, which usually extends between the hind limbs. limbs, including the tail. In connection with the development of powerful muscles that lower the wings, a low keel is formed on the sternum, which serves to attach these muscles, and the clavicles reach a strong development.

They are nocturnal and are guided on the fly mainly by reflected ultrasounds. Through experiments carried out at the level of modern technology, it has been established that bats emit not only the usual sounds we hear - squeaking, but also ultrasounds with a frequency of 30,000 to 70,000 Hz in the form of separate pulses. In this case, the pulse frequency varies depending on the distance between the animal and the object. The reflected wave of these ultrasounds is perceived by the hearing aid of bats, i.e. they have a thin ultrasonic locator. They often live in colonies, sometimes reaching enormous sizes.

This order, containing about 1 thousand species, is divided into two well-separated suborders: fruit bats and real bats.

Suborder fruit-eating bats, or fruit bats. Suborder contains one family krylanov, about 250 mostly very large species(up to 1.5 m in span) common in tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Australia. They are characterized, on the one hand, by a number of primitive features (not only the I, but also the II finger of the forelimbs is equipped with a claw, the ears have a structure typical of mammals); on the other hand, specialization features: their molars, which have flattened crowns, are adapted to eating plant food, consisting of juicy fruits. In places fruit bats are very serious pests of fruit plantations.

Suborder true bats. The suborder includes all other species of the order, which make up 16 families. These animals are characterized by small size, sharp teeth, a large number species adapted to feeding on insects. The ears are large, peculiarly modified. In terms of speed and maneuverability of flight, many insectivorous bats are not inferior to swallows and swifts. They are widely distributed throughout the world, but are especially numerous in the tropics and subtropics. Adaptive divergence due to food specialization is well expressed in these outwardly very similar animals. Many small species feed on the nectar and pollen of flowering plants and on insects found in the calyxes of the same flowers. These are long-tongued bats New World (16 genera), flower bats West Indies, etc. A number of plant species are adapted for pollination by bats. Many species feed on soft juicy fruits. leaf-nosed bats. There are species that hunt at low tide for marine mollusks inhabiting the littoral, species that grab insects and small mammals from the water. (bulldog mouse); some, in addition to insects, eat frogs, lizards, small birds and mammals. Vampires feed on blood large mammals inflicting small wounds on them. This is done so discreetly that animals usually do not wake up, as vampire incisors are extremely sharp, and saliva has anesthetic (pain reliever) and anticoagulant (inhibiting blood clotting) properties. Vampires lick the blood that flows out. Vampires are the keepers of the rabies virus. In some years, vampires infect tens of thousands of cattle and horses with rabies, which have to be destroyed in order to eliminate the epizootic.

Insectivorous bats are mostly useful, as they exterminate many harmful insects, including carriers of infections. In large caves that provide shelter to huge colonies of insectivorous species, entire deposits of guano, a very valuable fertilizer, accumulate over many centuries. For the convenience of exporting guano, narrow-gauge railways are laid to some caves.

In our country, there are about 40 species belonging to 3 families (smooth-nosed, fold-lipped, horseshoe and many other genera). The bulk - 32 species - belongs to the family smooth-nosed, several types horseshoes found in the south of our country. Most of the bats northern regions flies away for the winter. Some spend the winter in deep hibernation. Mating takes place both in spring and autumn, before hibernation. AT last case sperm cells remain in the female genital tract until spring, when they fertilize the eggs.

A typical representative of smooth-nosed - ushan, widely distributed throughout the territory and characterized by extremely large ears.

Detachment Untoothed. This small but extremely peculiar group includes sloths, anteaters and armadillos. They are characterized either by the complete absence of teeth (anteaters), or by their simplified structure: there is no enamel on the teeth, the roots are undeveloped, the shape of all teeth is more or less uniform, and usually there is only one change of teeth. On the last thoracic and lumbar vertebrae there are completely peculiar adnexal articulations. The number of fingers shows a tendency to contraction, but some of them are extremely developed and armed with powerful claws. Along with extreme specialization, edentulous have a number of very primitive features. The most important of them are the weak development of the forebrain hemispheres, which are almost devoid of furrows, and the large coracoid, which fuses with the scapula only in the later stages of development. All edentulous are very characteristic of the fauna of South America.

Sloths- purely arboreal animals that feed on leaves and spend their whole lives on trees in a suspended position with their backs down. In this regard, the fingers, together with the claws, form, as it were, hooks, with the help of which the animal hangs or moves slowly. The ribs supporting the viscera are widened, and the hair on the body, and contrary to all other animals, has a pile directed not to the abdomen, but to the ridge. The only way these harmless animals protect themselves is to remain unnoticed, which is facilitated by lower algae that settle in their long coarse fur and give it a green color.

Anteaters, which are referred to as big anteater, reaching 1.3m in length , leading terrestrial life, and small arboreal forms with a tenacious tail, are characterized by a long tube-shaped muzzle, a toothless mouth and a very long sticky tongue, to which ants and termites, which are the main food of these animals, stick.

armadillos- the only large group of modern edentulous. These are terrestrial, well-burrowing animals, the upper side of the body of which is covered with bony and horny shields overlying them. The scutes are movably connected to each other so that the animal can curl up into a ball. The teeth are numerous, more or less uniform, and shaped like sharp cones. They eat a variety of both animal and plant foods.

Although these three modern families are very different from each other, but in the fossil state in the same place, in America, numerous edentulous ones were found, in particular tardigrades, connecting sloths with anteaters, on the one hand, and with armadillos, on the other. Of them megaterium reached the size of an elephant and fed, like modern sloths, on leaves, but, of course, could not climb trees, but, using its enormous strength and weight, apparently bent them to the ground. This animal survived until the beginning of the modern geological period, and, according to all sources, it was still found by primitive man. Also noteworthy Gripotherium as tall as a bull, from which even pieces of skin covered with hair have been preserved, with traces of incisions made by man. It is possible that a person kept it in a domesticated state for the sake of meat. Finally, the fifth family of edentulous - giant armadillos, or glyptodonts reaching almost 4 m in length. They differed from modern armadillos, along with other features, in that the bony scutes of their carapace fused motionlessly, forming something similar to the dorsal shield of turtles.

Squad of Lizards.lizards characterized by a horny scaly cover, the individual scales of which overlap each other, like the scales of a spruce cone. They feed mainly on ants and termites. No teeth, tongue very long and sticky; the stomach, into which the pebbles are swallowed, is lined with a horn-like membrane, and food is crushed in it (analogous to the muscular stomach of birds). Thus, lizards show a great resemblance to anteaters. However, this similarity is purely convergent, due to the same food - ants and termites - and the way it is obtained - by digging up the solid structures of these insects. As recent studies have shown, there are no signs that indicate a relationship of lizards with American edentulous.

The origin of the lizards is completely unclear, since the forms found so far belong to the only modern genus. Several related species of lizards are found in Africa and South Asia. Among them there are both terrestrial and arboreal forms.

Squad of the Rodent. Rodents form the richest order of mammals: the total number of modern species exceeds 2800, they are combined into 30 families - which is about 1/3 of all living species of mammals. They are characterized mainly by the structure of the teeth. The incisors, of which there is only one on each side of the upper and lower jaws, reach extraordinary development, are devoid of roots and grow throughout life. There are no fangs, and the incisors are separated from the molars by a wide toothless gap - a diastema. The molars, which serve to grind solid plant food, have a wide chewing surface; it is covered with obtuse tubercles or low ridges of enamel, or, finally, completely smooth. The muzzle, unlike insectivores, is blunt. The hemispheres of the forebrain are comparatively small and devoid of convolutions. Sizes are small or medium. The way of life is terrestrial, burrowing or arboreal, less often - aquatic. The food is predominantly or exclusively vegetable.

With the exception of the extreme polar regions, rodents are distributed over the land of the entire globe.

The biological feature of rodents is their ability to multiply rapidly, which is due to the large number of cubs in the litter, a significant number of litters per year and early maturity. Due to this feature, in favorable years, many rodents increase enormously in number, after which mass death usually follows.

The abundance of rodents makes them great importance in nature (in three directions): 1) due to burrowing activity, they play a significant role in soil formation; 2) destroy a huge amount of plant food; 3) serve as a very important food base for predatory mammals and birds. The importance of rodents in the human economy is also very great. Many of them, for example voles, mice, hamsters, majority gophers, are the most serious pests of agricultural crops and food stocks - mice, rats. Some like marmots, ground squirrels, gerbils, rats, serve keepers and carriers of contagious diseases, in particular plague. Separate types, first of all squirrel, beaver, muskrat, are among the most important game animals.

Rodents, according to the latest taxonomy, are divided into 3 suborders: squirrel-like, porcupines and murine.

Suborder squirrel-like. Representatives of this huge suborder have only one incisor in each half of both the lower and upper jaws. The suborder includes a number of families, the most important of which are squirrels and beavers. The squirrel family includes squirrels, chipmunks, ground squirrels, marmots. The family of flying squirrels adjoins here. Squirrels, which include about 200 species, are typical forest animals adapted to climbing trees (tenacious claws, vibrissae located on the chest, which is associated with their climbing style of “hugging” the trunk) and jumping from branch to branch (long , fluffy, combed on two sides, the tail serves to control the flight when jumping).

common squirrel distributed throughout the forest and forest-steppe zones of Europe and Siberia and forms the basis of our fur trade. Its main food is coniferous seeds and nuts. In addition, she feeds on tree buds, berries and mushrooms, which she dries by bumping a branch. Only in the most severe frosts, the squirrel does not leave its nest for several days - “gaina”, which is usually placed high on a tree, woven from branches, equipped with two exit holes and has a spherical shape.

Chipmunk- a striped animal smaller than a squirrel, it leads a terrestrial-arboreal lifestyle and is widespread in the Siberian taiga. Partly it is a pest, partly a low-value commercial form.

Gophers, which are within former USSR there are many species - mostly steppe, partly mountain animals. They live in colonies in burrows, hibernate for unfavorable times. Many ground squirrels are serious pests of crops. But the biggest one is yellow gopher, living in the Trans-Volga, Kazakhstan and Central Asian steppes and semi-deserts, does little harm, as it avoids cultivated lands, and at the same time belongs to important commercial species. It is interesting in that when the vegetation burns out, it falls into summer hibernation, which passes without interruption into winter, so that in a year it stays awake in some places for 3.5-4 months.

Systematically close to ground squirrels marmots, differing from them mainly in large sizes (with a cat) and underdeveloped cheek pouches. They live in our colonies in the mountains of Central Asia and Siberia up to Kamchatka and in the steppes of Kazakhstan and Transbaikalia. These are important game animals, hunted for the sake of fur and fat, which is accumulated in large numbers before hibernation. So-called fine-toed ground squirrel living in the deserts of Central Asia, is the closest relative of the African ground squirrels and, although, in general, it looks like real gophers, it differs from them in that it does not hibernate at all, puts on long fur for this season and leads a solitary lifestyle. Eating cereals, it contributes to the dispersal of the sands, which in some places causes significant harm, but at the same time it belongs to fur-bearing animals, the trade of which is beginning to develop.

Our flying squirrel, whose numerous relatives inhabit tropical forests, is widespread in the forests of the European part and throughout Siberia. Thanks to a wide fold of skin stretched between the front and hind legs and the sides of the body, it can make long jumps while planning. The fur is of high quality, but the skin is so thin that it devalues ​​the skin. Leads a nocturnal lifestyle; It feeds on tree buds, bark and seeds.

The beaver family includes only 1 species - river beaver. This is a large rodent with a flat, scaly tail, thick, water-impervious fur and hind legs equipped with swimming membranes. He lives in families in burrows or arranges special structures from branches and silt - the so-called "huts". By joint efforts, beavers make dams from branches and tree trunks, blocking rivers with them and thus keeping the water at a constant level, and also break through long channels through which the trunks are rafted. All these actions are performed by them, as found out by careful research, instinctively. Once upon a time, the beaver was widespread throughout Ancient Russia and was hunted in large numbers for the sake of valuable fur and the “beaver stream” that was even more valued earlier, which is produced by musk glands at the root of the tail. At present, the beaver has been preserved with us mainly in Belarus, in the vicinity of Voronezh and in the Northern Urals. Thanks to the measures taken for protection and artificial resettlement, the beaver is now rapidly increasing in number. Outside of Russia, beavers are found in significant numbers only in Canada and in the northern part of the United States, where a beaver close to ours lives. canadian beaver.

Suborder Porcupines. The families of porcupines and related quills are distinguished by the presence of long, sharp quills covering the upper part of the animal's body. While porcupines are terrestrial animals with a short tail, spiky-haired animals are arboreal and are equipped with a long, prehensile tail. We have only one species of porcupine, which lives in the southeastern part of Transcaucasia and in the foothills of Central Asia and in some places causes serious damage to agricultural, mainly melon, crops. Contrary to popular belief, the porcupine cannot throw out its quills, but, defending itself, with sharp backward movements tries to stick them into the enemy, and, resting on the ground, the quills often fall out and bounce a considerable distance.

A family of guinea pigs belonging exclusively to the Southern and Central America, contains the largest rodent - capybara, the growth of a medium-sized dog, and domestic guinea pig, as well as a number of other rodents. The guinea pig (its original name was “overseas” pig) was domesticated by the ancient Peruvians and is now kept everywhere as a laboratory animal.

The eight-tooth family is also South American. It applies nutria, or beaver rat, - a large aquatic rodent with valuable fur. It is acclimatized in places in Western Europe, in the Caucasus, in Central Asia; in recent times divorced in middle lane; its fur is more often known under the name "monkeys".

Suborder murine. The murine suborder includes 3 very numerous superfamilies: 1) murine, 2) jerboas and 3) dormiceous.

Family jerboas unites quite numerous desert-steppe and desert animals, leading a strictly nocturnal lifestyle. They have very short forelimbs and very long hind limbs and a tail usually ending in a flattened tassel. Thanks to their strong hind legs, they can move extremely quickly by hopping by adjusting the movement of their tail and cover large areas in search of food, which is very important in the desert with its sparse vegetation. About 16 species of jerboas live in our steppes and deserts. Their significance for the national economy is not great.

Family mole rats characterized by a number of features associated with burrowing life. In mole rats, rudimentary eyes are hidden under the skin, the auricles have atrophied, the body is bar-shaped, the fur is short, velvety, the head is wide, spatulate flattened, the nose has keratinized skin forming a pointed rib. In contrast to the mole, which digs with its front paws, mole rats dig the earth with their very large wide incisors, which, thanks to the ability of the lower jaw to move to an additional posterior articular surface, act like a hoe (in connection with this, their limbs are not strongly developed), and throw out the earth with their heads. In our country, mole rats are found mainly in the Black Sea-Azov steppes, where they are pests of agriculture.

Family murine, to which they belong mice, rats, hamsters, voles, gerbils and others - the most extensive family of rodents. Due to the large number of individuals, this family plays a large role in biocenoses and is of great economic importance, since it includes the main agricultural pests that multiply in colossal numbers during the years of “mouse misfortune”. The most famous representatives: house mouse, forest and field mouse and pasyuk rat, settled after man around the globe; common hamster, inhabiting the steppes and fields of Europe, the north of Kazakhstan and Western Siberia, and common vole, which, like all voles, has a blunt muzzle, short ears, small eyes and a relatively short tail, close to arctic voles lemmings; muskrat- a rather large rodent, leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle and being the main commercial species of North America. At present, the muskrat has been successfully acclimatized in Eurasia.

Squad Lagomorphs. It is characterized by the presence in the upper jaw behind the large incisors of a pair of small additional incisors. Recently, two-pair incisors have been isolated into a special detachment. Only 2 families belong to the lagomorphs: pika, or haystacks, and hares.

The pika family unites small, larger than a rat, tailless animals with rounded ears and hind limbs, somewhat longer than the front ones. Mountain and steppe animals of the northern hemisphere. We are found in the Urals, in the mountains of Central Asia and Siberia, as well as in the Volga, Kazakhstan and Transbaikal steppes. They do not hibernate during the winter. Gained wide popularity thanks to collecting stocks of dried grass for the winter.

The hares family includes both hares and rabbits. We have 4 types of hares: hare, common in the tundra and forest belt, hare, inhabiting the steppes of Europe, from where it enters somewhat Western Siberia and the Caucasus tolay, found in Central and Central Asia, Manchurian hare, found in our country only in the South Ussuri Territory. The white hare becomes completely white for the winter, only the ends of its ears remain black all year round; the more southern hare only partially turns white at this time of the year, while the last 2 species of hares retain a grayish-brown color for the winter. The hare is much larger than the hare. The hare's paws are wide and fluffy - an adaptation for running on loose forest snow, the hare's paws are narrow, knocked down - an adaptation for running on hard snowy steppe crust. Unlike rabbits, hares live alone, almost do not dig holes, arranging only digs, and their cubs are born fully developed, covered with thick fur. Hares - a hare, and especially a white hare - are important game animals.

Squad of carnivores. Carnivores are distinguished by large, sharp fangs, tuberculate, usually with sharp, cutting edges of molars and small, weak incisors. The posterior pseudo-root of the upper jaw and the first true-root of the lower jaw are usually distinguished by their size and are called predatory teeth. The claws are well developed, sometimes retractile, the clavicle is rudimentary. The hemispheres of the forebrain are strongly developed and covered with convolutions.

This order is divided into 7 families: civet, hyenas, cats, martens, bears, raccoons and dogs.

The civet family unites the most primitive modern carnivores. Sizes are small or medium. The body is slender, elongated, with a relatively short legs and with a long tail. Distributed in South Asia, South Europe and Africa. Not found in our fauna. Typical representatives: African civet and mongooses.

The hyena family includes typical scavengers with weak legs (they do not pursue prey), extremely strong jaws and powerful predatory teeth, with which they easily gnaw bones (if they find their rare food - carrion, they need to use it as fully as possible). Hyenas, of which there are only 3 species, are common in South Asia and throughout Africa. In the countries of the former USSR, only striped hyena, found in Transcaucasia and in the southern part of Central Asia.

The cat family is the most specialized predators, having retractable claws (i.e., the terminal phalanges on which the claws sit, bend upward when walking), a short muzzle and exceptionally strong predatory teeth. Vision is especially well developed. A characteristic way of hunting is sneaking up and then a sudden jump. Distributed on all continents, excluding Australia.

Within the boundaries of the former USSR, there are several large cats and a number of small ones. The largest cats are tiger, found in our places in Central Asia and the Far East, a typical beast of South Asia and African a lion, penetrating only in Southwest Asia.

The commercial value of cats is small, relatively more important is lynx, which is widespread in all forest areas, but is quite rare everywhere. Considered the wild ancestor of the domestic cat brown cat living in Egypt. It was tamed by the ancient Egyptians, but only in the Middle Ages came to Europe.

The marten family is very diverse; individuals are characterized by moderate or small sizes and relatively short finger-like limbs. Distributed on all continents, excluding Australia. The most important representatives: pine marten and stone, sable, ferrets, mink, ermine, weasel, otter, badger, wolverine. These are fur-bearing game animals. Ermine and weasel are of general biological interest in that for the winter they change their summer brown fur to white, the color of snow.

The family of bears is characterized by the fact that they are animals of heavy build, usually of very large sizes, when moving, they fall on their entire foot (plantigrade), the tail is very short. Within Russia there are 3 types: Brown bear, distributed throughout all forest areas; comparatively close to him black, or himalayan, bear, which we have in the Ussuri Territory, and polar bear- a resident of the floating ice of the Arctic Ocean. The brown bear is a terrestrial animal that feeds mainly on invertebrates and plant foods, although in some places it causes serious damage to livestock. The den is arranged on the ground, usually under a fallen tree. European individuals rarely exceed 300 kg, but the huge Kamchatka ones weigh up to more than 600 kg. The black bear is a more arboreal animal, arranging its lair in hollows. The polar bear, feeding mainly on seals, is the largest of modern predators; some individuals reach a weight of almost 1000 kg. It is exterminated off the European coast, but not uncommon off the coast of Siberia.

The raccoon family is closely related to bears. Typical representative - american raccoon having a very valuable fur. It differs from bears in its smaller size, long tail, even greater omnivorousness and more arboreal lifestyle. At present, it is acclimatizing in Central Asia (forests of eastern Fergana) and Azerbaijan.

The dog family unites numerous representatives, characterized by medium size, strongly developed long legs, adapted for running. The sense of smell is especially well developed. The main way of hunting is to drive prey. Distributed across all continents. Of those living in Russia special attention foxes, arctic fox, raccoon dog deserve. Fox distributed throughout the European part of our country and in Siberia and, together with the squirrel, forms the basis of our fur trade; forms many geographical races (subspecies). Valuable silver-black foxes do not represent a particular geographical race, but are found as a rare exception; now they are bred on farms. arctic fox- a typical inhabitant of the tundra, wearing fluffy clothes for the winter white fur(Individual individuals that have a gray color in winter fur are known as “blue” foxes and are especially highly valued). This is the main game animal of our Far North. raccoon dog, which received its Russian name for its external resemblance to the American raccoon, is found in our Ussuri Territory. This is the only representative of the dog, falling into winter sleep. It has good fur and is currently acclimatized in many areas of the CIS. Wolf distributed throughout Eurasia, a terrible pest of livestock ( controversial issue) to be completely destroyed. From the wolf came domestic dogs.

Detachment Pinnipeds. Pinnipeds, which include eared seals(for example, fur seal), walruses and numerous earless, or real, seals, are predators adapted to aquatic life, with which they are sometimes combined into one squad. Pinnipeds are characterized mainly by an elongated, valky body, paired limbs are modified into swimming flippers, teeth have a more or less uniform conical shape (walruses are an exception), auricles are underdeveloped, the tail is very small; under the skin, in which, like in a bag, the body is enclosed, there is a powerful layer of fat, which reduces heat transfer and facilitates the specific weight of the body. The eyeball has a flattened outer surface, and the pupil is capable of very strong expansion (which is important for underwater vision - in an environment where there is little light). For weeks and months, pinnipeds live in the water, resting and sleeping on its surface. They feed only in water, and they swallow food whole, without chewing it (the homogeneity of their teeth is connected with this), and only walruses crush the shells of mollusks that make up their main food with their teeth. On land, pinnipeds are rather helpless and move on it with difficulty; but for the birth of cubs, their milk feeding, for mating and molting, pinnipeds need to stay on a solid substrate in the air: at this time, pinnipeds crawl out onto land or ice (depending on the type of animal) and spend weeks here, sometimes months.

Pinnipeds are divided into 3 families: eared

The vast majority (about 4500 species) of modern mammals distributed throughout the globe belong to higher (placental) animals. Placental mammals are combined into one group according to the following common features. They have a well-developed cortex of the forebrain, the placenta develops, there are no brood bags. The nipples of the mammary glands are well developed, their number corresponds to the number of cubs. The babies suckle their own milk. Body temperature in adults placental high and constant. They are characterized by complex behavior: they take care of the cubs, teach them, live not only in families, but also in herds.

Placentals are a thriving and numerous group of modern mammals, consisting of 16-19 orders. The most important of them are the following.

Insectivores. Representatives of this order are small animals (3.5-40 cm long), distributed on all continents except Australia and South America (Fig. 207). This is a relatively primitive group. Numerous teeth are undifferentiated - they are conical and similar to each other. The brain is small, hemispheres without convolutions. Most insectivores eat not only insects, but also other invertebrates: worms, mollusks, spiders. Large representatives of the detachment feed on frogs, lizards, small animals.

Rice. 207. Representatives of the order Insectivores: 1 - hedgehog; 2 - mole; 3 - common shrew (shrew)

There are about 400 species in the order. In our country, hedgehogs, moles, shrews are common. In the swampy areas of Central Russia, a rare, small semi-aquatic animal lives - the Russian muskrat. It is 20 cm in size, the length of the tail is the same. The muskrat has thick soft brownish-brown silvery fur. The desman has become very rare due to habitat disturbance. Feeds on mollusks, worms, insects. Included in the Red Data Book of the VSOP and Russia.

Chiroptera, or Bats. Representatives of this detachment have adapted to flight. A leathery membrane is stretched between the forelimbs, trunk, hind limbs and tail (Fig. 208). The sternum has a keel to which the flight muscles are attached.

Rice. 208. Representatives of the order Chiroptera: 1 - fruit bat; 2 - horseshoe; 3 - arrowhead

Bats have two toes on their forelimbs and all toes on their hind limbs are free. These animals are capable of echolocation: they emit ultrasounds and pick up their reflection from objects. Therefore, even in the dark, bats do not stumble on objects and catch insects. Representatives of bats usually have a body length in the range of 3-40 cm.

There are about 1000 species in the order. In Russia, the common night bat, the red evening bat, and several types of kozhanov are more common.

Bats mainly feed on insects, catching them in the air. Large frugivorous bats are common in the tropics. Vampires live in South America, which feed on the blood of large animals, are dangerous to humans, and carry rabies.

Rodents. The order unites about 2000 modern species. These are small and medium-sized animals (Fig. 209). The smallest mice are about 5 cm long, and the largest rodent is the South American capybara, or capybara, reaching 130 cm in length. Rodents include numerous species of mice, voles, ground squirrels, marmots, beavers, and squirrels.

Rice. 209. Representatives of the order Rodents: 1 - common hamster; 2 - gopher; 3 - capybara (capybara); 4 - marmot; 5 - dormouse

Rodents are mainly herbivores. Their well-developed incisors have an important feature: their front surface is covered with stronger enamel than the back, so they are ground off with solid food faster from behind than from the front, and always remain sharp. The incisors are constantly growing. There are no fangs, so there is an empty space between the incisors and the molars. The molars are flattened from above, and their horizontal surface is covered with folds.

Rodents are common in all natural and climatic zones, absent only in the Arctic ice deserts and in Antarctica. Many dig complex burrows and spend most of their lives underground. There are species that lead a semi-aquatic and arboreal lifestyle. Many rodents have valuable fur, they are hunted and bred in cages. These are the squirrel, muskrat, nutria, chinchilla.

Lagomorphs. Representatives of this small (about 60 species) order are in many ways similar to rodents (Fig. 210). Like rodents, they feed on plant foods, have well-developed incisors, only in the upper jaw, unlike rodents, they have two pairs of incisors: longer ones on the outside, short ones are located behind them on the inside. The intestine, like that of rodents, is elongated, with a well-developed caecum, where solid fiber is digested.

Rice. 210. Representatives of the order Lagomorphs: 1 - hare; 2 - pika; 3 - European rabbit

The white hare and the hare are common species in the forest and forest-steppe regions of Russia. They are of great commercial importance. The wild rabbit lives in the south of Western Europe. Numerous breeds of domestic rabbit were bred from him.

Rodents and lagomorphs are the most numerous placental orders, which play an important role in biocenoses as the primary consumers of plants and themselves serve as prey for predatory reptiles, birds, and mammals. Have important practical value like furry animals. Among them are many pests of cultivated plants and disease vectors.

Predatory. The detachment includes 270 species of animals of medium and large sizes. The body length of the smallest animal - weasels is about 11 cm (weight 100 g); the body length of the largest animals - the tiger and the polar bear is about 3 m (the mass of the polar bear is up to 1000 kg). The vast majority are active predators (Fig. 211). Prey is pursued or ambushed.

Rice. 211. Representatives of the order Predatory: 1 - pine marten; 2 - brown bear: 3 - fox; 4 - tiger

Predators have well developed teeth. They have large pointed fangs. The last (fourth) premolars of the upper jaw and the first molars of the lower jaw are large, have sharp high tops and are called carnivores. They serve to gnaw bones and tendons.

The wool of predatory animals is long and thick. They run well, relying on the entire foot or on the toes. The stomach is simple, the intestines are relatively short. Predatory animals are characterized by complex behavior in obtaining food and caring for offspring. They have well developed hemispheres of the forebrain, which have convolutions.

There are seven families in the order Predatory. The Wolf family unites strong slender animals with a large head and an elongated muzzle. The auricles are large, with a pointed apex. Legs with blunt non-retractable claws. This family includes wolves, dogs, jackals, foxes, arctic foxes. These animals sometimes pursue prey during group hunting. The wolf is one of the first animals domesticated by man. About 400 breeds of dogs have been bred, including guard, hunting, sledding, and decorative ones. Foxes are used in cage fur farming. The cat family combines medium and large animals with a flexible body and a rounded head. The eyes are large. The claws of all, except for the cheetah, are long, sharp, retractable. The prey is ambushed. Felines include the tiger, lee, leopard, lynx, wild forest cat, and domestic cat breeds. The cheetah lives in the savannas and deserts of Africa and South Asia. Unlike other cats, it pursues prey, reaching speeds of up to 112 km/h. The cheetah is highly tameable and was previously used for hunting. Cheetahs have become very rare, therefore they are included in the Red Book of the WSOP.

The Bear family includes large animals. So, the body weight of a brown bear is about 600 kg, white - about 1000 kg. The head of the bears is large, the auricles are small and rounded, the eyes are small. When walking, they lean on the foot. They sneak up on prey and in a throw develop speeds of up to 50 km / h. Bears give birth to small cubs: a brown she-bear in a den gives birth to a cub about 20 cm long and weighing 500 g. The Cunya family includes small and medium-sized animals with a flexible, elongated body and short limbs. Their fur is thick and soft. Among mustelids there are many valuable fur-bearing animals (sable, marten, mink, otter, ermine), which are hunted. Some mustelids have been successfully bred in captivity for valuable fur.

Predatory animals play an important role in natural ecosystems: they hunt birds and animals, eat amphibians and reptiles. Large predators attack smaller members of their order. The role of predators as regulators of the number of small rodents, including pests of cultivated plants, is great. Predators have a healing effect on prey populations, destroying diseased animals as they are easier to get. By this they prevent the spread of mass diseases - epizootics.

Placental mammals are an extensive group of animals, among which there are both primitive animals (such as insectivores) and highly specialized ones (for example, bats). Representatives of rodents are important as pests of cultivated plants. Predators regulate the number of their prey in ecosystems. Representatives of rodents, hares, predators are objects of hunting. Many species are used in cage fur farming.

Lesson learned exercises

1. On the basis of what features does the order Insectivora belong to the most primitive placental mammals?
2. Using figures 209 and 210, prove the similarities in the structure and life of representatives of the groups Rodents and Lagomorphs.
3. Consider Figure 211. Name distinctive features structure and behavior of representatives of predatory animals. What role do they play in biocenoses?

Topic:"Higher, or placental, animals: insectivores and bats, rodents and lagomorphs, carnivores."

Target:

to form students' ideas about higher (placental) animals, to learn about the variety of orders of insectivores, bats, hares, rodents and predators, their role in nature and human life

Tasks:

1. To acquaint students with the characteristics of the orders of insectivores, bats, hares, rodents and predators, to give an idea of ​​​​the individual representatives of these orders, the role of animals of the studied groups in nature and human life;

2) Develop logical thinking, memory, attentiveness, the ability to apply one's own knowledge in a new non-standard environment, generalize, compare, establish cause-and-effect relationships, highlight the main thing from the entire amount of information, cognitive interest;

3) To form a scientific and materialistic worldview of students, a scientific picture of the world, environmental education.

Lesson type: combined lesson using multimedia presentations

Methodical methods: conversation, storytelling, computer use, multimedia, demonstration of illustrations, drawings, presentations.

Equipment: presentation, computer, textbook, notebook.

During the classes:

1. Organizational moment

2. Verification homework

1.1. Photo gallery

Name the animal, the group of mammals to which they belong.

Slides #2-10

1. Kangaroo (marsupials)

2. Platypus (oviparous)

3. Possum (marsupials)

4. Echidna (oviparous)

5. Koala (marsupials)

6. Couscous (marsupials)

7. Marsupial wolf (marsupials)

8. Proechidna (oviparous)

1.2. Frontal conversation

What made it possible to unite these animals into the order monotremes or oviparous? squad of marsupials?

Slide number 11-12

3. Learning new material

3.1. general characteristics higher (placental) animals

Teacher: The vast majority of modern mammals, distributed throughout the globe, belong to the higher (placental) animals.

slide number 13

Placental mammals are combined into one group according to the following features:

1. Well-developed cerebral cortex of the forebrain

2. The placenta develops, there are no brood bags

3. Well developed mammary glands, the number of which corresponds to the number of cubs

4. Babies suckle milk

5. Take care of the cubs, train them, live not only in families, but also in herds

slide number 14

Placentals are a thriving group of mammals, consisting of 16-19 orders. Let's look at some of them.

In the course of work, you fill out a table in which you indicate distinctive features each order of animals, as well as their individual representatives.

filling in the course of the lesson table

3.2. Order Insectivores

A) General characteristics

slide number 15

Teacher: One of the most ancient groups of higher animals is insectivores.

Why are animals belonging to this group called insectivores?

What adaptations allow representatives of this order to hunt insects? (smell, touch, teeth)

Indeed, of the sense organs in insectivores, the organs of smell and touch reach the greatest development. The organs of vision in almost all are poorly developed, in some the eyes are generally hidden under the skin.

The number of teeth is from 24 to 46. They are all similar to each other, the surface of the teeth has cutting ridges resembling the letter W or V.

slide number 16

This structure of teeth allows insectivores to eat not only insects, but also other invertebrates (worms, molluscs, lizards and small animals).

Representatives of this detachment are small and very small animals. The head of the majority is pointed, with an elongated nose in the form of a proboscis. The body of most animals is covered with smooth, thick, velvety fur, while a few have stiff, bristle-like hair or short needles. Many insectivores have odorous (musk) glands.

slide number 15

B) Gallery of views

Muskrat. The body length of this animal is from 12 to 22 cm, covered with thick soft brownish-brown fur. The tail, almost equal to the length of the body, is flattened laterally and covered with horny scales. The nose is extended into a movable proboscis. The eyes are very small, there are no auricles. Between the toes of all feet there are swimming membranes. The muskrat has become rare due to habitat disturbance, therefore it is included in the Red Book.

slide number 17

slide number 18

Moles. The body of moles is covered with thick, even, usually soft and velvety fur of black, dark gray or Brown color. Mole skins are highly valued, fur coats are sewn from them. The nose is extended into a movable proboscis. The eyes are very small, many are hidden under the skin. By storing food for the winter - earthworms, moles turn them into a kind of "live canned food". Having decapitated the worms, the moles put them in puffballs in the underground tunnels. The worms remain alive, but they cannot crawl far, and in winter the mole always has fresh food. It differs from all moles - the star-bearer by the structure of its stigma. The stigma of this animal is in the form of a rosette or a star of 22 soft fleshy mobile bare rays. Such a nose sniffs out prey better than usual. In addition, it serves as a bait and a trap for careless fish: attracted by the movement of the tentacles, the fish swims closer and gets caught. In the same way, the starfish extracts worms, which it finds in the soil.

slide number 19

What did you note about the order Insectivores in your tables?

3.3 Bat order

A) General characteristics

Teacher: The next group of mammals is the only one among all animals that has mastered the air habitat and adapted to flight. This is the Bat squad.

slide number 20

What features can you note in the structure of these animals? (forelimbs turned into wings)

slide number 21

The name of the order of bats speaks for itself - this order unites mammals in which the forelimbs - “hands” - have turned into wings. The wings are a skin membrane that runs along the entire body of the animal. The membrane is stretched between the long spread fingers of the forelimbs and wraps around the hind limbs, tail (sometimes the tail is not included in the flying membrane), shoulder and forearm. Only the first fingers of the forelimbs and the fingers of the hind limbs are free from the membrane.

The second important feature of bats is orientation in space. What sense organs help bats and their relatives to navigate in space?

slide number 22

After numerous experiments, it was found that bats could fly freely in a dark room, where owls were completely helpless. Animals with their eyes closed fly as well as sighted ones. But if the ears of the animal are tightly plugged with wax, then it becomes helpless in flight and stumbles upon any obstacles. It is clear that the hearing organs of bats take over the function of vision. The method of orientation in space in bats is called echolocation. They send ultrasonic pulses, which, when they encounter an obstacle, are reflected from it and, like an echo, return back. Having caught the reflected signals, the bat is able to determine the distance to the object, its nature and size by changing the timbre and by the time of their return. So, emitting 10 or more impulses per second, the mouse, as it were, "feels" the surrounding space and easily finds both prey and the way home in complete darkness. Bats usually emit impulses, usually through the oral fissure, less often through the nasal openings. Some alternate emitting: if the mouth is occupied by a prey insect, they emit signals through the nostrils.

entry in notebooks of the definition of the new concept of "echolocation"

Bats are nocturnal, and during the day they rest, hiding in the crowns of trees, in caves or non-residential buildings. Sometimes several million bats can gather in one cave for the night.

slide number 23

All bats rest, hanging upside down, holding onto a branch or some ledge with their hind legs. Some bats hibernate during the cold season and spend all the time hibernating hanging upside down.

Bats are long-lived among small animals. A 9g bat can live up to 30 years. This is all the more surprising when you consider that the life span of such tiny mammals does not exceed 3 years.

Let's now get acquainted with some representatives of the detachment. I invite you to the gallery of views.

B) Gallery of views

To bellows. Fruit bats live in tropical forests and mountains. During the day, they sleep in the crowns of trees, in hollows or in caves. Fruit bats sleep wrapped in their leathery wings, like in a cocoon, and if it gets very hot, they use them instead of a fan. At air temperatures above 37 ° C, they lick the chest, belly and membranes. The heat transfer of the body moistened with saliva increases. As darkness falls, fruit bats fly out in search of juicy mangoes, papaya, avocados, bananas, and nectar. Fruit bats are very numerous and noisy animals. According to eyewitnesses, flocks of some fruit bats, perching on trees in the city center, make such a noise that they drown out even the roar of traffic.

slide number 24

AT empires. The greatest hostility among people is caused by bats - vampires. Vampire mice only drink the blood of pigs, cows, or poultry. At the same time, even the most voracious mouse can drink no more than 4 teaspoons of blood per night, and vampire bites are completely painless. Sharp fangs and incisors with blade-thin edges leave wounds 1-5 mm deep on the body of the victim. The saliva of vampires contains a substance that prevents blood clotting, and a small bloodsucker can drink blood dripping from a cut for half an hour. At the same time, the victim does not even suspect that someone is feasting on her blood. The bite of a vampire is not dangerous in itself. But these animals can be carriers various diseases, including rabies; the bite of an infected mouse can lead to mass death of livestock. "You - to me, I - to you" - this principle operates among vampires. It is not possible to get food every night, so the vampires feed each other. Unlike other bats, vampires have learned to take off from the ground. To do this, they bounce, relying on their thumbs, until they can spread their wings and fly into the air.

slide number 25

L sources. These cute bats are adorned with funny protrusions on their noses, reminiscent of tree leaves of various shapes, spearheads or horns. These outgrowths are not just decorations - they help the leaf-bearers to pick up ultrasonic signals. Attractive for leaf-bearing flowers with the smell of rotten meat. Among leaf-bearers there are also predators that hunt frogs, mice, lizards at night. Leaf-bearing builders build their shelter for the night. These little ones gnaw on large palm leaves, constructing huts from them that protect from rain and wind.

slide number 26

L flying mouse. Common bats sometimes have an amazing appearance: bats, wide-eared and arrowheads can boast of ears almost equal to the length of their body. Dwarf bats are one of the smallest mammals. A thimble can serve as a cradle for the cub of this bat, and Matchbox will become a luxurious bed for his mother. Most bats give birth to one cub each, and the female bat can be considered a mother-heroine among bats: she has up to 4 cubs.

slide number 27

What distinguishing features of the order Chiroptera did you single out?

3.4. Squad of rodents

A) General characteristics

Teacher: Find among the animals superfluous. Why? How are all these animals related? (mouse, rat, opossum, beaver, squirrel)

slide number 28

These animals have a number of characteristic features, according to which they can be combined into 1 order - the Rodents order.

slide number 29

Rodents, like no other representatives of the class of mammals, are able to adapt to the most different conditions a habitat. This skill allowed them to settle all over the world, adapt to heat and frost, droughts and snowfalls, learn to escape from predators and wait out starvation.

Rodents live on the ground - mice, ground squirrels, marmots, agoutis; underground - naked mole rats, mole voles, gophers; on the trees - squirrels, dormouse, tree porcupines; in the water - beavers, muskrats, capybaras, and flying squirrels even mastered the airspace.

Members of this order are mainly herbivores. Their well-developed incisors have an important feature: their front surface is covered with stronger enamel than the back, so they are ground off with solid food faster from behind than from the front, and always remain sharp. The incisors grow constantly, there are no fangs.

Slide number 30

Let's now get acquainted with some representatives of the detachment. I invite you to the gallery of views.

B) Gallery of views

M ysh-baby. Small cute baby mice live in the forests and forest-steppes of Europe and Asia. These crumbs grow up to 7 cm, their tail is almost equal to length body, with which the mouse clings to the blades of grass on which it climbs. The baby mice are so small that they climb the spikelet as if it were a tree trunk, and the stem does not bend under their weight. Babies are picky in their choice of food. In addition to seeds, they also feed on green parts of plants, eat mushrooms, worms, spiders, insect larvae, steal bird eggs and do not disdain carrion. Haystacks, grassy hummocks and other secluded places serve as their home. Sometimes, settling among tall grasses, babies build cozy nests for themselves. Gently gnawing off the blades of grass, the mouse cuts them into even stripes and, sitting on its hind legs, begins to weave a nest. So, quietly, on a fork in the branches of a bush or between several blades of grass, a spherical nest appears with a small entrance on the side.

D ohm mouse. Since ancient times, man has tamed wild animals, benefiting from their maintenance and breeding. But there are also animals that entered the human house without asking. This is the house mouse. A small nimble mouse easily finds shelter in any crack, and she is not afraid of the cold, there would be food. Even in winter, house mice breed successfully in an unheated hut. In a year, one mouse produces up to 40 small voracious pests. Therefore, even if the owner managed to somehow exterminate the mice in the house, a couple of migrants from a neighboring hut will quickly restore their livestock.

slide number 31

To lynx. Which animal killed the most human lives? Ferocious man-eating tigers? Turns out it's rats! Of course, rats did not attack people, but from time immemorial they have brought death to the world, spreading terrible infections such as plague and typhus. Every year, rats devour 1/5 of the world's grain crop. The appetites of these rodents can be judged by the volumes of supplies found in their burrows: gray rats drag several buckets of potatoes, carrots, nuts from the cellars into their shelters, steal prepared dumplings, cheeses, sausages in kilograms, steal eggs directly from under the hens, accumulating up to 3 dozen pieces in their pantries. Rats are hard to deal with. Traps, mousetraps and other human tricks do not work on them. Rats live in groups, and if one member of the group dies in a mousetrap, the rats inform each other about the danger, and no one will fall for this trick a second time. The same will happen with the planted poison: the rats will remember why their relative died, and will no longer touch the bait. Rats have developed resistance to many deadly poisons. Droughts, floods, lethal doses of radiation for most animals - all this is unimportant to rats. The offspring of only one pair of rats per year can reach 15 thousand individuals. Of course, a significant part of them perish, otherwise rats would fill the entire Earth in a very short time.

slide number 32

D icobraz. In the word "porcupine" the phrase "wild image" is heard, which very accurately characterizes the appearance of this peaceful and harmless rodent. Numerous long and sharp spines covering the back, sides and tail of the animal make the porcupine "wild" and terrible. Wanting to scare off the enemy, the porcupine turns its back to him and raises his needles. If the threat does not work, the porcupine rushes backwards towards the offender, and the needles, piercing the body of the predator, are easily separated from the owner. The unfortunate hunter retires, studded with needles, which break easily and are very difficult to remove from the body. Porcupine quills swell with the blood of the animal into whose body they are stuck, and cause a lot of torment to the beast.

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W inchilla. About a thousand years ago, the Chinchas Indians lived in South America. They decorated their clothes with unusually elegant silver fur. They sewed fur products from the skins of cute rodents, similar to very large squirrels, with large rounded ears and fluffy tails. These animals, owners of precious fur, Europeans called chinchillas. The fur of chinchillas was highly appreciated in Europe, and since then the former prosperity of rodents has come to an end. But the animals turned out to be quite suitable for keeping in captivity, and now they are bred on farms in America and Europe, only the fur of captive-bred chinchillas is not as good as that of their wild relatives. It's funny, but chinchillas from a strong fright can lose part of their hairline or even completely bald. They say that one farmer, who was breeding chinchillas somewhere on a quiet farm far from noisy cities, once went bankrupt, an airplane flew over his farm with a loud noise, and the unfortunate little animals, who had never seen such a miracle, went bald in horror, leaving the owner without desired profit.

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What features do the representatives of the rodent order we have considered have?

3.5. Squad Lagomorphs

A) General characteristics

Teacher: Representatives of the next detachment are in many ways similar to rodents.

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But from rodents, hare-like distinguishes a number of features. First of all, it is the structure of the teeth. The teeth of hares are completely covered with enamel, as, for example, in carnivores or primates, while the constantly grinding teeth of rodents have an enamel coating only on the outer surface. In addition, representatives of the order have two pairs of incisors on the upper jaw, and they are located one after the other, with the anterior ones being larger than the posterior ones. The study of the chemical composition of the blood confirmed the different origins of lagomorphs and rodents.

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The order Lagomorphs includes various types of pikas and hares. Let's now get acquainted with some representatives of the detachment.

B) Gallery of views

4th student: Hare. All lagomorphs are distinguished by extraordinary dexterity and the ability to run fast. Hares run at speeds up to 50 km / h. Hares have learned to confuse tracks, dodge, confusing the pursuer. In the arsenal of protective equipment of hares, the ability to hide, hide in the hope that the predator will pass by. Finding a hare is quite difficult: it comes out to feed at night, and hides during the day. Some hares even change the color of their skins depending on the season. A captured hare often dies not from wounds, but from a heart attack caused by the shock of capture. This is how bunnies live in eternal fear of predators. But in the mating season, hares are not up to caution, fear leaves them, and passion makes them simply crazy. The English, for example, when they want to describe someone's extravagant behavior, they say: "Behaves like a March hare." And indeed, lovers literally rage: they jump, fight, rush back and forth, wanting to impress the females. Not everyone knows that there are many types of hares and rabbits. In our country, the most common species are hare and hare. The hare is larger than the hare. In the south of Russia, another common species of hares lives - tolai. Tolai looks like a hare, only a little smaller. Among the hares there is a cute rough-haired Manchurian hare with short ears; the Californian hare, which lives in the American deserts, with huge radiator-ears that cool in the heat; long-legged antelope hare and many others.

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P blood fish. All pikas prefer to live in the mountains. The food for them is a wide variety of plants, which are not so many among the rocks. Hardworking animals not only eat plants, but also stock up on food for the winter. Gathering grass and plants, pikas lay out their supplies on stones to dry, and dry hay is hidden under natural stone canopies or raked into stacks and pressed down with stones so that the stock is not blown away by the wind. For this behavior, pikas were called haystacks. After rainy weather, they take out their wealth and lay it out again in the sun so that the soaked hay does not rot. The reserves of pikas are very impressive, for example, the Pallas pika collects 3-4 kg of hay, despite the fact that the weight of the animal itself is about 200 g.

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What did you note about the order lagomorphs in your tables?

4. Fixing

4.1. Guess the riddle, indicate the name of the animal, the detachment to which it belongs:

A) “In rich clothes, but blind himself, he lives without a window, has not seen the sun” (Mole, Insectivores.)

b) “What kind of forest animal is this, standing like a column under a pine tree and standing among the grass - ears larger than a head?” (Hare, Lagomorphs)

4.2. "Who's extra?"

Mole Beaver Desman Hedgehog

Hare Squirrel Marmot House mouse

Shrew Vampires Leaf Bats

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4.3. Choose the correct statements:

Insectivores inhabit mainly Australia and South America.

The wings of bats are outgrowths of the skin.

Hedgehog quills are modified wool.

The mole and other diggers have well-developed forelimbs.

Echidnas lead a terrestrial way of life platypuses - water.

Shrews, moles, hedgehogs are animals of the order Insectivores.

Insectivora cubs are born sighted, covered with wool.

Moles and shrews hibernate for the winter.

In bats, only the finger of the forelimbs does not take part in the formation of the wing.

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4.4. Determine the relationship between these organisms:

1. Mole Birch (affinity at the level of empire life)

2. Mole Amoeba vulgaris (animal kingdom)

3. Mole Maybug (p/t Multicellular)

4. Mole Lancelet (Chordates)

5. Mole Hare (Mammals)

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4.5. Name the animal and the group of mammals to which they belong (presentation)

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5. Homework: p.55, study the Predatory detachment on your own, by filling out the table, prepare a creative work “Photo gallery of the Predatory detachment”