| churamuniaaspas |
Posted
on 25-Apr-02 02:42 AM
We are all descended from a mouse-like animal that scurried among the dinosaurs 125 million years ago, scientists revealed today.
The long-tailed creature, which probably fed on insects, is the earliest known example of a eutherian.
This is the group of animals which nourish young in the womb through a placenta and includes most mammals today.
A well-preserved fossil skeleton was discovered in China's Liaoning province.
The researchers who found it gave it the name Eomaia scansoria. Eomaia means "dawn mother" while scansoria refers to climbing.
It had long fingers which scientists believe were adapted to grasping twigs.
The animal was the size of a big mouse and possibly avoided dinosaurs by dashing
up trees.
Although Eomaia was an ancestor of placental mammals it probably reproduced more like marsupials do today.
The discovery, made by a team led by Zhe-Xi Luo from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh pushes back the records of eutheria by more than 40 million years. Their research is published in the journal Nature.
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