It is a small, furry animal. It walked like a platypus but looked like a shrew! Doesn't it sound funny? Can such a creature actually exist? Let us leave these queries to the researchers and find out what the Chinese scientists have discovered - a fossil of the peculiar animal. The bizarre find provides important new clues to the evolution of early mammals, the researchers say.
insect eating mammal fossil found in china
The fossil is found well-preserved in the province of Liaoning in northeast China. It shows a previously unknown species of insect-eating mammal, and it is believed to have lived alongside dinosaurs some 125 million years ago. With a thick coat of fur, the 'shrew-like' creature measures four inches (12 centimeters) long and weigh 15 to 20 grams (0.5 to 0.7 ounce).
Paleontologists Gang Li and Zhe-Xi Luo say the animal reveals some unexpectedly primitive features, and that it strengthens Asia's claim as the site where the main mammal groups originated.
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