Summary:
- Traditional classifications of mammals are based on similarities in structure and function.
- Increasingly, mammals are being classified on the basis of molecular similarities.
- The most widely accepted traditional classification of mammals divides living placental mammals into 17 orders.
- DNA analyses have shown that the traditional orders include mammals that may not be closely related.
- The mammalian supertree classifies mammals phylogenetically.
- It uses the analysis of DNA sequences to group together mammals that are evolutionarily closely related, sharing a recent common ancestor.
- Explain which type of classification is more useful for understanding how mammals evolved.