Hairy discovery
Hair or fur is one of the main characteristics of a mammal and it is this aspect of a recently unearthed fossil that is proving to be a major talking point among evolutionary scientists. Megaconus mammaliaformis may not be the biggest fossil ever found but it’s certainly one of the most intriguing. The squirrel-sized furry animal has been found to have existed 165 million years ago, providing evidence that traits such as hair and fur originated well before the rise of the first true mammals. Discovered in Inner Mongolia, China, Megaconus is one of the best-preserved fossils of the mammaliaform groups, longextinct relatives to modern mammals. Previously the oldest known mammal fossil was dated to have lived 125 million years ago, but the Megaconus’ age means it existed alongside feathered dinosaurs in the Jurassic era, nearly 100 million years before the T-Rex. Researchers have heralded the discovery as an important tool which will hopefully unlock answers about the critical transition of modern mammals from premammalian ancestors. While the fossil showed signs of a halo of guard hairs as well as underfur residue it also carried several non-mammalian characteristics as well such as a middle ear still attached to the jaw. Despite this, Professor Zhe-Xi Luo, one of lead researchers on the discovery, says the animal could well have paved the way for our evolution. “We cannot say that Megaconus is our direct ancestor, but it certainly looks like a great-great-grand uncle 165 million years removed.”