There are currently 1,258 genera, 161 families, 27 orders, and around 5,937 recognized living species of mammal.[1] Mammalian taxonomy is in constant flux as many new species are described and recategorized within their respective genera and families. The taxonomy represented here is a compilation of the most logical and up-to-date information on mammalian taxonomy from many sources, the main ones being Handbook of the Mammals of the World series and Mammal Species of the World.
The order Carnivora is represented by 16 families of mostly carnivorous and omnivorous mammals found worldwide terrestrially and in marine waters of the poles and some areas of the tropics. Divided into two large suborders, Caniformia (Canidae, Ursidae, Ailuridae, Procyonidae, Mephitidae, Mustelidae, and the Pinnipeds, Otariidae, Phocidae, and Odobenidae) and Feliformia (Nandiniidae, Felidae, Prionodontidae, Viverridae, Hyaenidae, Herpestidae, and Eupleridae), the order contains about 289 recognized species, along with 4 recently extinct species, one of which is included in its own monotypic genus, Dusicyon. Tribe and subfamily taxonomy comes mostly from the first volume of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World on carnivores for the terrestrial species, and the 4th volume on marine mammals for the 3 marine families.
Cetartiodactyla is a large order of hoofed mammals, the even-toed ungulates, and aquatic mammals, cetaceans. Cetacea was found to be nested within "Artiodactlya" and has now been moved into that order, whose name is now Cetartiodactyla[2] Even-toed ungulates are found nearly world-wide, although no species are native to Australia or Antarctica. Broken into four suborders, Tylopoda (including Camelidae), Suina (including Suidae and Tayassuidae), Whippomorpha (including Hippopotamidae and the infraorder Cetacea), and Ruminantia, which contains two infraorders, Tragulina (including Tragulidae) and Pecora (including Moschidae, Cervidae, Bovidae, Antilocapridae, and Giraffidae). The higher taxonomy used for the ungulates of this order is based primarily on the Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 2 on hoofed mammals, including the subfamily and tribal affiliations in each family. The order includes about 242 recognized ungulate species, along with 6 recently extinct species. Groves and Grubbs Taxonomy of Ungulates[3] is used as a minor reference for the Bovids. Cetacea contains Balaenopteridae) and Odontoceti (including Physeteridae, Kogiidae, Ziphiidae, Platanistidae, Iniidae, Lipotidae, Pontoporiidae, Monodontidae, Delphinidae, and Phocoenidae), which include a total of 14 families, most of which have few representative species. The taxonomy here is exemplified by the 4th volume of the Handbook of the Mammals of the World on marine mammals.
The order Chiroptera comprises bats and is the second largest order of mammals, containing about 1,240 species of bats, which is around 20% of all mammal species.
The order Dasyuromorphia (meaning "hairy tail") comprises most of the Australian carnivorous marsupials, including quolls, dunnarts, the numbat, the Tasmanian devil, and the thylacine. There are 73 living species in this order, 72 of which belong to the family Dasyuridae and the numbat, of the family Myrmecobiidae.
Family Dasyuridae – sometimes known as marsupial mice
In the past, various authors proposed to place treeshrews in the ordinal rank Insectivora, or considered them close relatives of primates. Since 1972, the treeshrew families Tupaiidae and Ptilocercidae are grouped in the order Scandentia.
