New Proto-Mammal Fossil Sheds Light On Evolution of Earliest Mammals

[Zillamaster55]

[quote]A newly discovered fossil reveals the evolutionary adaptations of a 165-million-year-old proto-mammal, providing evidence that traits such as hair and fur originated well before the rise of the first true mammals. The biological features of this ancient mammalian relative, named [I]Megaconus mammaliaformis[/I], are described by scientists from the University of Chicago in the Aug 8 issue of Nature.

"We finally have a glimpse of what may be the ancestral condition of all mammals, by looking at what is preserved in Megaconus. It allows us to piece together poorly understood details of the critical transition of modern mammals from pre-mammalian ancestors," said Zhe-Xi Luo, professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago.
Discovered in Inner Mongolia, China, Megaconus is one of the best-preserved fossils of the mammaliaform groups, which are long-extinct relatives to modern mammals. Dated to be around 165 million years old, Megaconus co-existed with feathered dinosaurs in the Jurassic era, nearly 100 million years before Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed Earth.[/quote]

[url=http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130807134008.htm]Here[/url]

[img]http://images.sciencedaily.com/2013/08/130807134008-large.jpg[/img]

[lemonskunk]

Maybe if I'm lucky we can find a way to revive fossils like in Pokemon and I could finally have one as a pet?

[Dr.C]

I want to roll it over and rub its belly until its mind breaks from ecstasy

[BrickMan300]

[QUOTE=Dr.C;42374700]I want to roll it over and rub its belly until its mind breaks from ecstasy[/QUOTE]

there are two types of posters

[Mr Skeltal]

I know a guy who left pizza under his bed for a month, it began to look like a proto-mammal

[Takkenrakker]

[QUOTE=IliekBoxes;42374920]I know a guy who left pizza under his bed for a month, it began to look like a proto-mammal[/QUOTE]

a symbiotic relationship between mold and pizza, that's truly how all mammals formed

[woaka]

This is new? I'm pretty sure I saw this a couple weeks back.

[theVendetta]

God planted these fossils to test your faith people!

Don't fall for this!!

[Bendacriss]

[QUOTE=lemonskunk;42374612]Maybe if I'm lucky we can find a way to revive fossils like in Pokemon and I could finally have one as a pet?[/QUOTE]

Thanks for reminding me this is impossible. Hopefully we find some ways to reverse engineer something that resembles it out of modern organisms some day. I'm not going to give up this dream. No way.