mammalian
Americannoun
adjective
Other Word Forms
- mammality noun
- nonmammalian noun
- unmammalian adjective
Etymology
Origin of mammalian
Explanation
Use the adjective mammalian to describe warm-blooded vertebrates with hair, or anything related to them. Your sister might be fond of snakes and frogs, while you'd prefer a mammalian pet, like a dog or cat. You, your pet dog, a gorilla, and a skunk all have something very important in common: you can all be described as mammalian, since you are all in the scientific class known as Mammalia. Mammalian characteristics range from having three small bones in each ear, to not being born inside an egg (with the exception of the platypus and other monotremes), to being nursed by a mother as an infant.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Modern analytic tools, in particular methods introduced in 2009 to sequence the genetic material of individual mammalian cells, have revealed how pervasive these changes are.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026
The focus of the convention on mammalian species over others like fish and insects has previously been a criticism of the agreement.
From BBC • Mar. 24, 2026
In fact, Alcatraz is a noted sanctuary for nesting shorebirds, in part because it lacks mammalian predators such as coyotes, bobcats and foxes.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 20, 2026
The new field data and imagery collected by Vejmělka provide crucial insight into this rarely seen species and shed new light on the extraordinary mammalian biodiversity of New Guinea's remote highlands.
From Science Daily • Oct. 23, 2025
As a result of this fundamental inefficiency, no mammalian carnivore has ever been domesticated for food.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
