where do mammals fit in the classification of animals
Mammal classification Mammalia is a class of animal within the Phylum Chordata. Mammal classification has been through several iterations since Carl Linnaeus initially defined the class. No classification system is universally accepted; McKenna & Bell (1997) and Wilson & Reader (2005) provide useful recent compendiums.[1] Many earlier ideas from Linnaeus et al have been completely abandoned by modern taxonomists, among these are the idea that bats are related to birds or that humans represent a group outside of other living things.[2] Competing ideas about the relationships of mammal orders do persist and are currently in development. Most significantly in recent years, cladistic thinking has led to an effort to ensure that all taxonomic designations represent monophyletic groups. The field has also seen a recent surge in interest and modification due to the results of molecular phylogenetics.
Wolfdog One of the issues that many researchers and wolfdog communities are faced with is identifying wolfdogs from pure dogs and any of the wolf species mixed into the hybrid. The most common method used by various wolfdog communities is phenotyping, a method that involves observing the animal's physical features.[8] This method is often favoured for many in determining the degree of wolf and northern spitz-type dog that is in a hybrid. However, a lot of criticisms have been made by opponents within some communities who tend to point out that phenotyping cannot always determine the wolf-contents accurately. Another challenge involves determining exactly the domestic breeds and wolf subspecies involved in the admixture due to the fact that dogs are known to come in various breeds while gray wolves in turn come in various subspecies with many different regional ecotypes hence have different physical features depending on the subspecies used in the breeding. Although wolves are often mixed with spitz types such as Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, and German Shepherds, hybrids between wolves to non-Spitz type dogs such as Poodles,[9] Pit bulls,[10] and Great Pyrenees also exist, the latter hybrids often having less lupine features.