Paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Kent State University, the University of Michigan, and the City University of New York have discovered the fossilized remains of a mammal that walked the Earth some 65.5 million years ago.
The newly discovered species Periptidaethe group of animals that gave rise to all modern ungulate mammals, including deer, cows, and pigs.
named Militocodon lydaethe ancient creature was about the same size as a chinchilla, weighing between 270 and 460 grams, and probably had an omnivorous diet.
They lived in what is now the United States about 610,000 years after the mass extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.
“The fossil record is notoriously poor in rocks from this period, and the discovery and description of fossil mammal skulls is an important step in documenting the earliest mammalian diversification after Earth's last mass extinction.” “This is an important step forward,” said curator Dr. Tyler Lyson. Vertebrate Paleontology at the Denver Museum of Natural Science.
fossilized skull and jaw Militocodon lydae It was discovered in the Coral Bluffs area of the Denver Basin in Colorado, USA.
“Coral Bluffs is located east of Colorado Springs, Colorado, within the Denver Basin,” the paleontologists said.
“The exposed south-facing arc that makes up the Coral Bluffs is part of the D1 sequence of the Denver Formation, which extends from Upper Cretaceous to Lower Paleocene.”
Militocodon lydae This provides important clues about the explosive diversification of mammals after the extinction of the dinosaurs.
“How and when life returned in the aftermath of the dinosaur extinction remains a mystery due to the poor fossil record.”
“But thanks to the discovery of an astonishingly complete fossil at Coral Bluffs, we can now paint a clear picture of when and how life returned after Earth's darkest days.”
of study Published in Mammal Evolution Journal.
_____
LN Weaver other. 2024. Skull of a new species of peripteran mammal excavated from the late Paleocene Denver Formation (Coral Bluffs, El Paso County), Colorado. J Mammal Evolution 31, 16; doi: 10.1007/s10914-024-09716-5
Source: www.sci.news
