Tag Archive for 'Proto-mammal'

Mammals in a Jurassic forest: the three animals on the left side represent the three newly discovered species - Shenshou lui, Xianshou linglong, and Xianshou songae; the other two represent a gliding species and another euharamiyidan, respectively, which were described earlier. Image credit: © Zhao Chuang.

Paleontologists Reveal Big Differences in Growth Patterns between Jurassic and Modern Mammals

Aug 7, 2024 by News Staff

In new research, paleontologists used synchrotron X-ray tomography of annual growth increments in the dental cementum of fossil mammals from three faunas...

A spectral tarsier (Tarsius tarsier) feeding on a grasshopper in Tangkoko National Park, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Tarsiers have five chitinase genes to digest the high amount of chitin in their insectivorous diet, which likely represents the ancestral condition of all placental animals, including humans. Image credit: Quentin Martinez / University of California, Berkeley.

Common Ancestor of All Placental Mammals Was Insect-Eater: Study

May 21, 2018 by News Staff

Humans are known to have one functioning and three non-functioning chitinase genes — those that make an enzyme that digests the insect exoskeletal...

Maiopatagium furculiferum in Jurassic forest in crepuscular (dawn and dusk) light: a mother with a baby in suspending roosting posture, climbing on tree trunk, and in gliding. Image credit: April I. Neander, University of Chicago.

Gliding Proto-Mammals Lived among Jurassic Dinosaurs

Aug 11, 2017 by News Staff

Dinosaurs that roamed what is now China some 160 million years ago had two ‘flying’ neighbors — strange creatures with long limbs, long hand,...

Reconstruction of Euchambersia mirabilis; oblique ventro-lateral view showing the ridged dentition. Image credit: Alex Bernardini.

Proto-Mammals were First Terrestrial Vertebrates to Produce Venom, Paleontologists Say

Feb 16, 2017 by News Staff

When you’re a small pre-mammalian creature, sometimes the only way to protect yourself against fearsome predators like saber-toothed carnivores is to...

Life reconstruction of Megaconus mammaliaformis. It was a nocturnal animal, foraging mostly in the night (April Isch / Zhe-Xi Luo / University of Chicago).

Megaconus: Furry Proto-Mammal Stuns Paleontologists

Aug 8, 2013 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists has discovered a well-preserved fossil of a proto-mammal, named Megaconus mammaliaformis, that lived in what is...