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Egg-Laying Mammals

Mammals are endotherms, animals that maintain their own internal body temperature, and they have three unique traits: they are covered with fur or hair; the young are fed milk from the mother’s mammary glands; and they have three middle-ear bones.  Most mammals give live birth, but one group, the monotremes, are egg-laying mammals.  Fossil evidence has been found of monotremes that once lived in South America, but all of the species alive today, echidnas and platypus, reside in Australia and New Guinea.  Monotremes have other unique traits such as lacking adult teeth and stomachs.  Food is taken in by mouth,…

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Discover-Nature presents information related to the Jurica-Suchy Nature Museum at Benedictine University in Lisle, IL where a wide variety of high-quality zoological, geological, and herbarium specimens are on exhibit, free to the public. It starts with out bi-monthly blog about the world of nature. Other pages provide information on the collections, reservations for museum visits, resource for scientific information and museum events including the Nature Doodler’s journaling activities.

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