Discover the oldest mammal

American and Chinese scientists have discovered fossils of the oldest mammal species distributed throughout Eurasia continent 160 million years ago.

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US and Chinese scientists claim they have just discovered an almost intact skeleton of the 'oldest and most successful mammal' on Earth.

Named "Rugosodon eurasiaticus" , this newly discovered creature looks like a small mouse or squirrel. It lived on Earth 160 million years ago and was the first member of the multituberculate mammal group, which proliferated 35 to 170 million years ago.

Fossil of Rugosodon species

Multituberculate appeared in the Jurassic period and extinct into the Oligocene era, dominated the very rich habitats for more than 100 million years before being deposed by today's rodents.

In their statement, a team of scientists from the Chinese Academy of Geography, Beijing Museum of Natural History and University of Chicago said: 'This new mammal has jagged teeth. with countless small teeth and grooves and niches, proving to be an omnivore. Its food is leaves, fern seeds and conifer trees with worms and insects ".

The researchers describe the ankle bones of the Rugosodon species as 'extremely flexible and maneuverable' , a trait that proves to be a fast and agile animal.

'The descendants of multituberculate in the Paleocene Cretaceous and Paleocene century have been strongly differentiated, some species can jump, some can burrow, others can climb trees and many live on the ground . The multituberculate climbs trees and jumps with the most interesting ankles because they have the ability to 'turn around', ' said Professor Zhe Lui of the University of Chicago.

Re-imagined image of Rugosodon

'The surprising thing is that these ankle bone features have also appeared in Rugoso don,' he added.

Researchers say that Rugosodon is a nocturnal species on the shores of a temperate climate zone in today's Jianchang district, Liaoning province.

During that period, they shared the territory with Anchiornis dinosaurs, Darwinipterus flying lizards, arthropods and some other mammals.

This newly discovered fossil in eastern China is very similar to the fossil teeth of the multituberculate at the end of the Jurassic period discovered in Portugal.

Professor Luo stated: 'This shows that the Rugosodon species and its close multituberculate relatives have been distributed throughout the entire Eurasian continent ".