Therians Fossil range: Early Cretaceous-Recent, 125–0 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
A cat (Felis catus) with her kittens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Subclass:	Theriiformes
Superorder:	Theria Parker & Haswell, 1897
Infraclasses
Eutheria Metatheria †Trituberculata

This article appears to contradict the article Eutheria. Please see discussion on the linked talk page. Please do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved. (October 2009)

Theria (pronounced /ˈθɪərɪə/, from the Greek θηρίον, wild beast) is a subclass of mammals^[1] that give birth to live young without using a shelled egg, including both eutherians (placental mammals) and metatherians (marsupials and their ancestors).

Kangaroo, a marsupial, with its joey

[edit] Extent

Members of this subclass have external ears, most can suckle on a nipple, and have an ankle specialized for power and range of motion. Therians are often classified by their specialized dentition.

Almost all currently extant (not extinct) mammals are therians. The only known exceptions are the platypus and the echidnas (spiny anteater), both of which are prototherian monotremes.

[edit] Bibliography

• Vaughan, Terry A., James M. Ryan, and Nicholas J. Czaplewski. 2000. Mammalogy: Fourth Edition. Saunders College Publishing, 565 pp. ISBN 0-03-025034-X

[edit] References

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