A NEW LINK IN EVOLUTION

From the time of the dinosaurs, we have a new species of MAMMAL. You're probably thinking, "What? This is a blog for dinosaurs! Not mammals!" Well this discovery is just as important, another secret in the murky past of planet Earth.

From China, (AGAIN?) (remember Haolong dongi?) and the cretaceous period, Dongoconodon platycaulda may have been able to replace its teeth during it's life, unlike normal mammalians which only get 2 sets but reptiles get more.

IT MIGHT BE A KEY TO UNDERSTANDING MAMMAL EVOLUTION!

Researchers say its fossil gives us a look into early evolution of mammals, and that's BIG.

I wonder if we'll ever find any more species like that? We might, but there's still a good chance we won't. Especially when this fossil was 120-Million years old.

The animal was semi aquatic, and it's had a streamlined body and a flat tail, certainly for swimming. Its body was around 40 cm long, and weighed about 190 grams. It had excessive webbed hands and feet, so it was a very strong swimmer.

More about the teeth now. The fossil shows signs of incisors, canines, premolars-like teeth, and even some teeth that are similar to molars. All of which may have been replaced multiple times in the lifetime of the creature. This is a condition called polyphyodonty and normally only reptiles would have done this. So this animal is an exception.

And it also has one of the most complete preserved central-ear areas from an Early Cretaceous mammal.

Mike Benton from the University of Bristol says :

“This is an interesting, quite late-occurring mammal that for some reason has retained hints of the reptilian ancestry more so than many other Mesozoic mammals that had apparently made those two transitions by the end of the Triassic [about 201 million years ago]”.

They say this animal was also very similar to a platypus.

Thanks New Scientist Magazine!

Well, this is goodbye. Stay tuned for more amazing facts from Seth's Dinosaur Club! ._.