Fossilised skeleton of oldest-known tree-dwelling mammal found in Russia

Fossilised skeleton of oldest-known tree-dwelling mammal found in Russia

The long fingers and grasping tail of an early fossiled mammal suggest that our predecessors colonised the trees far earlier than thought.

The creature, which would have looked more like a lizard than a mammal, lived 260 million years ago, 100 million years earlier than the oldest-known tree-dwellers.

More than 15 fossilised skeletons of the species, named Suminia, were found in a single block of red mudstone in the Kirov region in central Russia.

The animal was relatively small, at around 20 inches (50 cm) from its nose to the tip of its tail. Although scales and splayed limbs gave it the appearance of a lizard, Suminia was of the mammal line. Other features, such as the shape of its hands and skull, have more in common with mammals than reptiles.

Its long, slender limbs, large hands and flexible tail strongly suggest that it lived partly in the trees, according to a study, published today in the journal Proceedings B of the Royal Society.
[link to news.bbc.co.uk]

Last Edited by theDtrain on 11/06/2011 02:35 PM