What were early mammals like?
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The earliest placental mammals were small animals of the insectivore type, but adaptive radiation has resulted in great diversity of forms and ways of life. Some mammals are predators; others are herbivores with specialized digestive systems. Some have taken up an aquatic existence and a few marine forms (whales and sirenians) even give birth at sea. Members of one group, the bats, have developed membranous wings supported by elongated fingers and lead an aerial existence. The primates , the group that includes humans, are fairly close to the original mammalian type in general structure (for example, they have five fingers and toes and walk flat on the sole of the foot), but they have undergone great evolutionary advances in the development of the brain, vision, and manual dexterity.
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