image: The fossil of Microdocodon gracilis is preserved in two rock slabs and consists of a main part (PMOL-AM00025A, left) and a counterpart (PMOL-AM00025B, right). It was found in a site near the Wuhua village in the Daohugou area of Inner Mongolia, China, and the estimated age of the fossil site is at least 164 million years. The type specimen of this new mammaliaform is deposited in the Paleontological Museum of Liaoning (Shenyang, China). This material relates to a paper that appeared in the 19 July issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by C.-F. Zhou at Shenyang Normal University in Shenyang, China, and colleagues was titled, "New Jurassic mammaliaform sheds light on early evolution of mammal-like hyoid bones." view more
Credit: Zhe-Xi Luo, the University of Chicago