Animal that in its first stages of life feeds on milk. They are mostly viviparous except for the monotremes (echidna and platypus). Type of animal belonging to the class Mammalia (possessing mammary glands and feeding on milk).
Taxon of animals whose females feed the milk of their breasts to the young. From the Latin mamma, ae (", brood mistress, vegetable bud") fero, from the present active ferre ("to carry, to carry").