| Juramaia Temporal range: 164–165 Ma |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| infralegion: | Tribosphenida |
| Subclass: | Theria |
| Infraclass: | Eutheria |
| Genus: | †Juramaia Luo et al., 2011 |
| Species | |
Juramaia is an extinct genus of very basal eutherian mammal from late Middle Jurassic (Callovian to Bathonian stage) deposits of western Liaoning, China. Juramaia is known from the holotype BMNH PM1343, an articulated and nearly complete skeleton including incomplete skull preserved with full dentition. It was collected in the Daxigou site, Jianchang, from the Tiaojishan Formation about 160 million years ago. It was first named by Zhe-Xi Luo, Chong-Xi Yuan, Qing-Jin Meng and Qiang Ji in 2011 and the type species is Juramaia sinensis.[1]
The discovery of Juramaia provides new insight into the evolution of placental mammals by showing that a new milestone in mammal evolution was reached 35 million years earlier than previously thought.[2] Furthermore, its discovery fills gaps in the fossil record and helps to calibrate modern, DNA-based methods of dating the evolution.[2][3]
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