Maelestes gobiensis
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| Maelestes Fossil range: Late Cretaceous |
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| Maelestes gobiensis Wible et al., 2007 |
Maelestes gobiensis is a species of prehistoric shrew-like mammal discovered in 1997 in the Gobi Desert. The animal lived in the late Cretaceous Period, around 71-75 million years ago, and was a contemporary of dinosaurs such as Velociraptor and Oviraptor. The discovery and analysis of this species suggests that true placental mammals appeared during the time the dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, not earlier in the Cretaceous as previously thought.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Wible, J.R., G.W. Rougier, M.J. Novacek, and R.J. Asher. (2007). "Cretaceous eutherians and Laurasian origin for placental mammals near the K/T boundary." Nature, 447: 1003-1006.
[edit] External links
- Dinos' demise spurred rise of the mammals, new fossil suggests, Yahoo! News
- Mammals burst on the scene after dinosaurs' exit, Yahoo! News
- Placental Mammals Originated On Earth 65 Million Years Ago, Researchers Assert by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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