Select the one animal that has all of the mammal traits listed above.
Red salamanders do not have lungs! They can breathe through their moist, smooth skin. Adult red salamanders live near rivers or ponds. They lay eggs with no shells under rocks or logs. The baby red salamanders live underwater. Female cats feed their offspring milk. Adult cats have fur and hunt small animals for food. Cats can see better in the dark than people can! Seeing in the dark helps cats hunt their prey.
Mammals are a group of animals with similar traits. The following traits can be used to identify mammals:
They feed their offspring milk.
They have fur or hair. Observe the animals and read the descriptions.
Scientists sort animals with similar traits into groups. This is called classification. Classification helps scientists learn about how animals live.
How do scientists classify animals? First, they make observations about an animal. Scientists observe the animal's traits, including its body parts and behavior. Then, scientists compare the animal's traits to other animals' traits. Scientists classify animals with similar traits into a group.
To decide if an animal is part of a group, look at the traits of the group.
Mammals have the following traits:
They feed their offspring milk.
They have fur or hair.
Compare each animal's traits to the group's traits. Select the animal with traits similar to the group's traits.
A red salamander has the following traits:
It spends part of its life in water and part on land.
It has moist skin.
It makes eggs with no shells.
A red salamander does not have all of the traits of a mammal. A red salamander is an amphibian.
A cat has the following traits:
It feeds its offspring milk.
It has fur.
A cat has the traits of a mammal. A cat is a mammal.