8/12/13

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The Earth Story
New mammal fossils reveal our hairy roots.
We usually associate mammals with the era since the mass extinction at the end of
the Cretaceous, when they spread into the vacant ecological niches left behind by
the demise of the dinosaurs. Truth is, they appeared a long time before they
conquered the world, as far back as the late Triassic 212 million years ago when our
distant ancestors the Mammaliaforms walked the world. They co-existed with the
dinosaurs throughout most of their reign, the first saurians being about 30 million
years older.

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Two new Jurassic fossils from China have sparked a debate on what makes a true
mammal, and one had the oldest fossilised fur. They were published in this week's
Nature. Both fossils are the most complete examples found of an order called
Haramiyidae, until now only known from their teeth. It always seems like serendipity
when two examples of something long sought after appear at the same time from
different localities. Finding their exact location on the tree of life is proving
problematic, and a debate has started on exactly how close to true mammals they
are.
The first, illustrated in the picture, was squirrel sized, and had fur and a keratinous
spur on his hind leg. The latter is remarkably similar to that of the male duck billed
(Off)spur is
platypus, an egg laying primitive mammal found in Australia. TheChat
platypus's
poisonous, and the fossil example may well have been similar. It was found in a 165
million year old layer of volcanic ash that settled in a freshwater lake in Inner
Mongolia.
Megaconus mammaliaformis's skeleton shows both reptilian and mammalian features,
that lie on the hazy borderline between proto and true mammals, but proves that fur
was already in existence back in the mid Jurassic. Its teeth reveal an omnivorous
diet, showing it already had the mammalian opportunistic trait of trying to squeeze a
living out of everything that can be nibbled. It lived by the lake shore and probably
foraged at night, since he shared his habitat with Pterosaurs.
The second find, named Arboroharamiya, comes from northeastern China, and died
about 160 million years ago. It had long digits, and possibly a prehensile tail,
suggesting that it lived in trees. Its jaw consists of one bone, which is a mammalian
trait, as reptiles have three further jaw bones that metamorphosed into our ear
bones. The team controversially claim that it is a true mammal, and suggest that
they were in existence as long ago as 200 million years.

One specimen is not enough to make such a definite statement, and the search is on
for further finds to help us draw the line between 'proto' and 'true' mammals. More
fossils are needed from this distant era before further clarity can be attained.

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Timeline Photos
fossils are needed from this distant era before further clarity can be attained.
Loz
Image credit: University of Chicago, Nature.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/07/jurassic-squirrel-mammals-e
volution-earth
http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/discovery-of-165-million-year-old-fossilsheds-light-on-evolution-of-earliest-mammals/
http://www.nature.com/news/fossils-throw-mammalian-family-tree-into-disarray-1.1
3522
http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/otherprehistoriclife/a/earlymammals.htm
Pay wall access, original paper: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v500/n7461/
full/nature12429.html
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Simon Selwyn Looks like my ex...
Like Reply

18 11 hours ago via mobile

Daniel Langner I'm not sure who should be more

embarrassed about that you or your ex
Like 11 10 hours ago
Write a reply...
Dave Ball I don't really have anything to add to this post, just
wanted to say how much I like the long form posts from this page. It's
nice to have more than one sentence and a link to an article somewhere!
Like Reply 9 10 hours ago via mobile
Alan Boulter I understand the urge but drawing "lines" is silly. At
one point they were proto and further along they where true but it
BLURRED. To think anything else is to misunderstand Evolution.
Like Reply 11 11 hours ago via mobile
Brian Robitaille Exactly. No black and white here, nothing
but shades of grey...
Like 7 11 hours ago
Write a reply...
Helen K Calver Great article Loz, I read another summary from a
less well researched source about the first fossil find, this is
considerably better written and a lot more accurate. Very interesting,
thanks.
Like Reply 3 11 hours ago
Sarah-Jane Dempsey Thanks for posting this, I enjoyed it. Very
interesting finds!
Like Reply 2 10 hours ago via mobile
Barbara Whitley does this mean the earth and mammals are older
than 6000 years ...omg!!!!!
Like Reply 1 6 hours ago via mobile
Astoria Rose Very interesting article
Like Reply

1 9 hours ago

Donna Michele Fernstrom I think what's at issue, is, when did the
mammalian line first begin feeding their offspring on milk? It's now
obvious that proto-mammals were warm-blooded, since they already had
fur. That means that, at the VERY least, they were definitely not
rept... S ee M ore
Like Reply 1 11 hours ago
Paul M Sawyer Opossum look alike.
Like Reply about an hour ago
Andrew Wobbey Schneiderman Reminds me of that "little ratlookin thang" in Walking With Dinosaurs.
Like Reply 5 hours ago
Aishath Asma Hehe fuc
Like Reply 11 hours ago
Shayne Mary Gold Smith ,,,wow amazing.
Like Reply 11 hours ago
Lena Parent Oh wow, this is so cool
Like Reply 7 hours ago via mobile
Mike Hoppe Ya' know, reveal our "hairy root(s)" is probably not the
best headline...lol
Like Reply 1 10 hours ago
Anbal Khan Huitzitzilli No
Like Reply 8 hours ago

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