Dear MEL Topic Readers,
'Crazy beast' fossil discovery shows the
evolutionary weirdness of early mammals
Sitting about 400 kilometers off the coast of
East Africa, Madagascar is an island country in the Indian Ocean. As the island
has been isolated from other continents since 88 million years ago, its inhabitants,
such as dinosaurs, reptiles, animals, and plants evolved very uniquely, some of
which still live there and most others extinct long ago.
Recently, researchers found well-preserved
fossil of an extinct mammal that is believed to have lived over 60 million years
ago. Since its features widely differ from existing mammals, they named it “Adalatherium”
or "crazy beast." For example, the crazy beast seems to have walked very
differently from today’s mammals as their front half and back half do not
match. Also, its back teeth look nowhere close to other animals of similar size.
Enjoy reading the article and imagining how
the beast walked, ran, and ate in such an isolated environment millions of
years ago.
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