Are mammals 30 million years older than previously thought?

Palaeontologists re-examine a 200-million-year-old fossil from Greenland, reigniting debate about the origins of mammalsHow old are you? What if, when someone asked you this question, you answered with the age of all humans? 2.3 million years, you would say. What about all primates? Around 80 million years old. If you wanted to answer for the whole of mammal-kind, you’d find the answer depends who you ask.In November a new paper came out that stirred an ongoing debate among palaeontologists working on the first mammals and their close relatives. Early-mammal expert Professor Zhe-Xi Luo, from the University of Chicago, led a team reanalysing the fossil of a mouse-sized creature called Haramiyavia clemenseni using CT-scans. They found anatomical details that appear to push this little beastie out of the bushy crown of the mammalian tree, relegating it to the side branches. This has big implications for the age of all mammals. Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Evolution Fossils Science Biology Source Type: news
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