Human life cannot be imagined without mammals. Many species are fished (squirrels, beavers, muskrats, nutria, hares, arctic foxes, foxes, martens, ermine, seals and etc.). They are hunted for meat ( roe deer, elk, deer), fat (whales, seals), fur (Arctic foxes, mustelids, squirrels), skin, etc.
A man from ancient times tamed some species of wild mammals ( bull, tarpan, wild boar, wolf etc.) and began to breed them artificially . Domestic animals are a source of food products, raw materials for industry, medicine, etc.
The branch of the national economy whose task is to breed domestic animals in order to create new breeds and obtain food and raw materials for industry is called livestock farming.
It is believed that the first animal domesticated by humans almost 10 thousand years ago was wolf- wild ancestor domestic dog. Man has created about 500 breeds of dogs: service, hunting, decorative .
Numerous breeds have been developed cattle(over 250). The performance of some dairy cow breeds (Yaroslavl, Kholmogory, Black-spotted and Red Steppe) is up to 4 thousand liters of milk per year. Meat breeds (Hereford, Astrakhan, Kalmyk and Shorthorn) have massive body, and representatives of meat and dairy breeds (Simmental, Kostroma, etc.) combine the characteristics of both dairy and meat breeds. In the old days, cattle in Ukraine were also used as draft power. You've all heard about the Chumaks who carried salt on oxen. Bulls were called bulls that were artificially deprived of the ability to reproduce.
Sheep used to obtain meat, wool, and fur. The ancestors of domestic sheep are considered to be wild sheep - mouflon and argali. Currently, over 600 different breeds of sheep have been bred: fine-wool, coarse-wool (sheep-fur, meat-wool), etc. In particular, they breed Ascanian, Cygean, Karakul, Mountain Carpathian, Sokolskaya and etc.
Modern breeds goats(Kashmiri, Angora, etc.), from which people receive milk, meat and fur, are descendants of wild mountain goats, in particular, the bearded or bezoar.
domestic pig comes from a wild pig - wild boar. It differs from its ancestor in the large number of piglets born that lack striped coloring. People raise domestic pigs for meat, fat and skin. Over 100 breeds of pigs are known, of which large white, Mirgorod, Ukrainian steppe, white, etc. are common in Ukraine.
Ancestor domestic horse there was a tarpan. Nowadays, over 200 breeds of horses are known, among which there are riding, draft, heavy draft, etc. Breeds such as the Oryol trotter, thoroughbred horse, Budennovskaya, etc. are common. Horses are still widely used today for movement and transportation of goods. Equestrian sport is very popular all over the world. In addition, people use horse milk and meat for food. Kumis - spoiled milk mares - famous remedy against tuberculosis and other serious diseases.
How does a person use draft power? donkey. Its ancestor, the wild ass, is still found in North Africa. As a result of crossing a horse and a donkey, a mule was bred - a strong and hardy animal.
Pets(pigs, large and small cattle, horses) are bred on specialized farms and large livestock complexes. These farms use products produced in factories. feed - mixture nutrients, providing good nutrition and accelerated animal growth. The health of domestic animals is monitored by veterinary services. Material from the site
Veterinary — the science of animal diseases, their treatment and prevention.
Fur animals(minks, sables, arctic foxes, foxes, raccoon dogs) and rodents (nutria, muskrats) are bred on fur farms.
Mammals play an important role in nature and human life:
- many species are fished;
- some species are domesticated by humans;
- there is a separate branch of the national economy - animal husbandry;
- domestic mammals are a source of food, raw materials for industry, and are used to transport people and goods.
On this page there is material on the following topics:
Mammalian food sources
Message "The importance of mammals in human life" download
Report on the biology of the importance of mammals for humans
How man domesticated mammals
The role of mammals in human life
Questions about this material:
The role of mammals in nature
The role of mammals in nature is determined by the fact that they are an important link in it, as they form a variety of food connections with living organisms. Herbivorous mammals have a great influence on plants, especially in dry landscapes - steppes, semi-deserts and deserts. Many animals (for example, vole, mouse, wild boar, squirrel) contribute to the spread of seeds. Thus, the squirrel takes away fallen acorns and nuts, and the wild boar, rummaging in the forest litter and soil, tramples down some of the acorns and nuts, promoting the regeneration of oak and hazel trees. Many rodents and ungulates feed on plants, thereby influencing their growth and development. Shrew and mole loosen in search of food forest floor, soil. Loose soil is better supplied with oxygen, moisture, and soluble salts. At the same time, dense bushes and tree crowns protect arboreal animals from bad weather and enemies. Predatory mammals (for example, wolf, fox, arctic fox, lynx) regulate the number of herbivores and mouse-like rodents. Some predatory animals, eating animal corpses, perform a sanitary role in nature.
The importance of mammals for humans
The significance of mammals for humans is very diverse. Many rodents that cause harm are definitely harmful to humans. cultivated plants and destroying food supplies. These animals are carriers and distributors of bacilli (directly and through blood-sucking arthropods) of a number of dangerous diseases person. Some people cause known harm to the human economy carnivorous mammals(in our country, for example, a wolf), attacking livestock. The benefit of wild mammals is to obtain valuable fur, skin and meat from them, and also fat from sea animals.
For the sake of meat and skins, they hunt elk, wild reindeer, wild boar and some other artiodactyls. The hare is one of the main objects of sport hunting.
Fur farming
Sable, silver-black fox, mink and other fur-bearing animals are bred on fur farms. Fur farming is a profitable branch of the economy. Livestock specialists are busy breeding fur-bearing animals with a variety of fur colors. White, black, silver-blue, and pearl minks were bred.
Mammal conservation
To preserve the number of mammal species valuable to humans, as well as rare and endangered species, various protection measures are provided. The extraction of game animals is carried out according to strict rules, which define the hunting periods for each and the maximum production norms for each type of animal. To increase their numbers, reserves have been created, on the territory of which hunting is prohibited. To restore the number of rare and especially valuable animals, reserves have been created in which natural natural conditions, and all economic activity is excluded. Some reserves were created specifically to protect and restore the numbers of certain species of animals.
Finally, all rare and endangered animals are listed in the Red Books. Thanks to them, the population of any republic and region has the opportunity to get acquainted with the description of these animals, learn their appearance and habits and, thus, if necessary, contribute to their conservation.
General characteristics of mammals
Mammals are vertebrate animals that feed their young with milk, have in most cases a high, constant body temperature and are most often covered with hair. Embryonic development in most mammals occurs in the womb under constant conditions of temperature, humidity and nutrition. Only oviparous mammals lay eggs. Mammals have a well-developed brain, so they easily adapt to a changing environment, forming new conditioned reflexes. About 4,000 species of modern mammals are known.
The importance of mammals in life human society very diverse. This is determined, on the one hand, by the abundance and diversity of animal species, and on the other, by the variety of human economic activities.
In general, the class of mammals represents a huge natural wealth worthy of careful treatment.
Currently, this is very relevant, since over the previous centuries more than 100 species have already been completely exterminated. Among the exterminated animals are such unique ones as the sea cow, the aurochs bull, the wild Tarpan horse, etc.
Now in many countries scientists are busy important issue- preservation and increase in the number of rare animals, including mammals - primarily some species of whales and seals, polar bear, Asiatic lion, Asian rhinoceros, Przewalski's horse, kulan, goral, wild spotted deer and others. Experience shows that with proper management of the matter, restoration of species numbers is quite possible. Suffice it to recall the remarkable results that were achieved in restoring the saiga, elk, and sable populations.
The final assessment of the importance of a number of species sometimes encounters difficulties due to the fact that the same species plays a different role in different natural and economic situations. Many species of small rodents are harmful to field crops. In some places they interfere with afforestation.
At the same time, they feed on fur-bearing predators, whose fur is of great commercial value. Forest mouse-like rodents form the basis of food supply for such valuable animals as, for example, sable, marten, mink, and weasel. But in a certain situation, they pose a danger to human health as guardians of infections and feeders of ticks - disease transmitters.
The fox is undesirable near poultry farms and on the territory of hunting farms where pheasants or other game birds are bred. This same species in the taiga does not cause any real harm and is of great value as a fur-bearing animal. Gophers and voles are undoubtedly harmful near crops. They harm crops at different stages of their growth: they eat sown seeds, spoil seedlings, and destroy seeds of mature plants.
In some places, rodents damage the grass cover of pastures. There are cases of destruction of more than 50% of the most valuable plants, such as cereals and legumes. Some rodents (great gerbils, etc.) interfere with sand-protection work, as they take away the seeds of shrubs and woody plants embedded in the ground. Mole rats, zokors, and in some places water voles and moles, throwing soil onto the surface when constructing burrows, make haymaking difficult.
Some mammals, mainly rodents, are of significant epidemic importance, as they are guardians and transmitters of diseases dangerous to humans. In addition, they serve as hosts for ticks and some insects that spread these diseases, called anthropozoonotic ones. Marmots, gophers, gerbils, rats are carriers of bacteria and spreaders of a terrible human disease - the plague. Plague bacilli are transmitted to humans through direct contact or through fleas feeding on sick animals.
The microcarriers of tularemia among mammals are mainly rodents, primarily the water vole, the common vole, the house mouse, ground squirrels, and hares. The pathogen is transmitted to humans through blood-sucking insects, ticks, through water, or through direct contact with a sick animal, for example, when skinning it.
In epizootics of pasture typhus fevers, pathogens (rickettsia) are transmitted from sick rodents by ticks. For viral encephalitis (severe damage to the central nervous system) pathogens from sick animals are also transmitted by ticks. With rodent pests Agriculture or dangerous in terms of epidemics - a systematic fight is being carried out. Wild mammals are hunted for a variety of products, and they are also hunted for sport, which has not lost its importance to this day.
Beneficial mammals are numerous and varied. Among long-domesticated domestic animals, they occupy more than 60% (15 species). To their number we must add fur-bearing animals bred in cages, at various stages of domestication (about 20 species), as well as numerous laboratory animals (rats, mice, guinea pigs and many others). Breeding in captivity is accompanied by the development of new breeds of these animals. The number of dog breeds reaches approximately 200 and continues to increase; More than a hundred breeds are known in rabbits; Among laboratory animals, the number of genetically pure lines of mice and rats is increasing. The domestication of new species continues: elk as a transport animal, deer for producing antlers; new fur-bearing animals and laboratory animals. To improve existing breeds and obtain new ones, hybridization of domestic animals with wild species is used.
Game animals bring considerable income in many areas. The successful protection of their reserves and restoration of the numbers of sable, beaver, sea otter, seals and other animals almost destroyed by predatory exploitation in pre-revolutionary Russia increased the hunting wealth of our country; the successful acclimatization of American rodents - muskrats and nutria - also expanded them. The production of sable, martens, squirrels, arctic foxes, foxes and other fur-bearing animals, together with the developing captive breeding of the most valuable fur-bearing species, meets the country's needs for furs. The main commercial species of the forest zone remain squirrel, sable, marten, ermine, foxes and hares. Due to the increase in the number of valuable martens, squirrels lost first place to them (in terms of the cost of extracted skins). In the tundra zone, the Arctic fox and the mountain hare remain of primary importance; in the steppes and deserts - foxes, hares, small mustelids, and ground squirrels; in river valleys - muskrat, water rat, otter, and in the south - nutria; in mountainous areas important have marmots. Other species (bears, cats, etc.) make up only a small share of the fur harvested. Wild ungulates, the number of which has noticeably increased in many places, serve as an important source of meat and skins: reindeer in the tundra, elk and deer in the forest zone, saiga in the steppes and semi-deserts. A special place is occupied by marine hunting, carried out either at rookeries (seals), where animals come to breed, or from sea vessels (whaling and sealing). In the first case, proper farming is carried out with regulated catching of animals (mainly young males). Marine whaling is regulated by international agreements, which do not yet always guarantee the preservation of the main population of animals, the number of which is noticeably declining. Marine products include not only the skins (fur) of animals, but also their fat and some other valuable products (for example, spermaceti from sperm whales).
The list of harmful animals includes predators that attack domestic animals and humans, pests of forests and agricultural plants, guardians and distributors of diseases of humans and domestic animals. Attacks by large predators (tiger, lion, leopard, wolves, hyenas, bears, etc.) on humans are quite rare and are usually carried out by individuals who have lost the ability to obtain natural prey. Such cannibals are, of course, subject to extermination. Attacks by wolves on humans are almost always associated with rabies. It is necessary to limit the number of wolves and other predators in areas where they attack farm animals; however, their harmfulness should not be exaggerated. The sharp decline in the number of large predators forces us to take measures to protect them: in our country the shooting of polar bears, tigers, and snow leopards is prohibited.
Crops, plantings and pastures are damaged by rodents and lagomorphs. Their harmfulness is increased by the fact that many voles and mice are capable of mass reproduction, when the harm from them increases sharply. In gardens, damage from dormice and mice is significant. The extermination of agricultural and forestry pests is carried out mainly with pesticides, which makes it possible to reduce their numbers, but often poisons environment and does not eliminate the danger of repeated mass reproductions. Developing a new strategy for controlling pests of this group should be a top priority for zoologists. Many mammals serve as guardians and distributors of dangerous natural focal diseases of humans and domestic animals, as well as feeders of carriers of these diseases: ticks, fleas, lice, mosquitoes. Marmots, gophers, gerbils, some voles, mice and other rodents (about 200 species in total) harbor and spread the plague microbe. Water rats and other hygrophilous voles, hares (more than 60 species in total) spread tularemia. Tick-transmitted viral infections, especially encephalitis, are associated with the feeding of these vectors on small mammals (personal-nymphal phases) and large mammals- predators, ungulates (adult ticks).
A close range of carriers exists for hemorrhagic fevers, tick-borne typhus and relapsing fever. Desert rodents (gerbils) are the hosts of cutaneous leishmaniasis, and canines are hosts of visceral leishmaniasis. Without the participation of vectors, mammals store and transmit rabies infection (carnivores, some the bats), erysipiloides, leptospirosis and listeriosis (voles, rats, mice, insectivores, carnivores and ungulates). Many of these infections have natural foci, that is, they constantly exist in nature. A person can become ill by entering the outbreak area and coming into contact with a sick animal or an infected vector (flea, tick, etc.). The theory of natural focality of diseases, developed by academician. Pavlovsky E.N. and his students, became the scientific basis for the fight against these diseases, as a result of which many outbreaks were eliminated or suppressed. The use of beneficial wild animals and the control of agricultural and human health pests require an in-depth study of their population structure and population dynamics. In both cases, this is the same problem of managing changes in numbers economically important species, but with the opposite goals. It comes down to developing a strategy and determining the means and methods of influencing populations. Increasingly, complex computing technology is being used to clarify and detail the forecast of events in populations of economically important mammal species.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CLASS MAMMALS
Mammals are the highest homeothermic vertebrates. Their body is covered hairline. The skin is elastic, rich in sebaceous and sweat glands.
Characterized by the presence of mammary glands, the secretion of which feeds the baby. The axial skeleton is characterized by the presence of seven cervical vertebrae. The teeth are differentiated into incisors, canines and molars, and are strengthened by roots in the alveoli.
The body cavity is secondary, divided by the diaphragm into the thoracic and abdominal sections. Digestive system differentiated, well developed cecum. Excretory organs are secondary kidneys. There is no cloaca. The respiratory organs are the lungs, which have an alveolar structure. The circulatory system is closed. The heart has four chambers, two circles of blood circulation. Only the left aortic arch is preserved. Erythrocytes are anucleate.
The brain has big sizes, its hemispheres are covered with gray matter - the cortex. The midbrain is formed by the quadrigeminal. The sense organs are well developed. The hearing organ is formed by the inner, middle and outer ear. There are three auditory ossicles in the middle ear - the malleus, the incus and the stapes.
Mammals are dioecious. Males have paired testes, females have paired ovaries. Fertilization is internal, development is direct. The embryo develops (with the exception of oviparous embryos) in a special organ - the uterus. Distributed everywhere. They are of great economic importance.
Mammals are distributed throughout the globe. Being part of a wide variety of biogeocenoses of land and seas, they, to a greater or lesser extent, influence their animals and vegetable world. In food chains, they are either consumers of primary biomass (herbivores) or second-order consumers (carnivores). Mammal activity plays great importance in the stability of biogeocenoses. Herbivorous mammals can have significant influence on the species composition of meadow vegetation and pastures.
Some mammals (hedgehogs, bats) can act as regulators of the number of insects and mouse-like rodents.
Mammals in nature contribute to the spread of seeds and spores of various plants, and enrich the soil with organic substances.
Mammals play an important role as a reservoir of pathogens of various human and animal diseases.
Mammals are also of great economic importance. Many species of them have valuable fur and are hunted (sable, squirrel, beaver, marten, seal, fox, hare, etc.), or bred in fur farms (mink, arctic fox, silver fox, etc.)
Some species of mammals (mice, rats, gophers, hamsters) feed on cereals and, when their populations are large, can cause significant material damage.
Mammals are of great importance as a source of food for humans (meat, milk), technical raw materials (hides, wool). Biologically active substances are obtained from mammalian organs: hormones, enzymes. Mammals are widely used as laboratory animals.
FARM ANIMALS OF THE MAMMAL CLASS
The most important farm animals in human life are: cattle, small cattle, pigs, and horses.
The cows come from the South Russian (European) and Indo-Turkestan (Asian) aurochs. The domestication of the aurochs occurred 8 thousand years BC. Cattle selection went in 3 directions: to produce dairy, beef and draft cattle.
Dairy breeds - Kholmogory, Yaroslavl, Red Steppe produce up to 5000 kg of milk with a fat content of 3.7-3.8%.
Among the meat breeds, Astrakhan, Shortgorsk, and Kalmyk are known. Dairy-meat cows include Simmental,
Kostroma They weigh up to 800 kg, and their milk yield reaches 4.7 thousand liters.
SMALL CATTLE
To the small cattle include sheep and goats. Domestic sheep breeds trace their origins to the wild European sheep. Domestication occurred around 9 thousand years BC. Currently, more than 150 breeds of domestic sheep are known. They are bred for the purpose of obtaining wool, skins, meat, and milk.
Coarse wool breeds of sheep (Romanovskaya, Karakul) have wool consisting of awns and fluff. The skins of these sheep are used to make fur coats and tanned sheepskin coats. Fur coats and hats are made from the skins of Karakul lambs. Fur coats are sewn from the skins of semi-fine sheep and collars are made.
Fine-wool sheep have long, fine, downy wool. Academician N.F. Ivanov bred one of the best fine-fleece breeds - Askanian, which produces up to 30 kg per year. wool
PIG farming is an important branch of agriculture. Pigs originate from the wild boar, widespread in Europe, North America, temperate latitudes of Asia. In Europe they were domesticated at the end of the Neolithic. One of the best breeds is the English Large White, the Ukrainian Steppe White. The latter was bred by academician. M.F.Ivanov from crossing a white English and a “mongrel” Ukrainian. The breed is characterized by high early maturity and good fertility. The weight of pigs of this breed reaches 300 kg. The Livensky and Breitovsky breeds also have high qualities.
Domestic horses originate from the wild Przewalski's horse. Horses are used to perform various jobs, riding; the meat is for food, and the milk of mares is for making kumys. Currently, there are more than 100 breeds of horses. All breeds can be divided into 2 types - northern, heavier and southern, lighter.
In our country, Vladimir heavy-duty horses were developed and bred, capable of carrying a load of more than 10 tons. In Russia, the following racing breeds were bred: Don, Tersk, Budenovskaya, and from the light-harness breeds - the Oryol trotter.
Southern breeds of horses are mainly riding. These are Arabian, Akhal-Teke, Kabardian trotters.