image: Rugosodon is the earliest-known fossil skeleton of the multituberculate mammals, a major lineage of extinct mammals from the Jurassic to the Eocene. The skeletal features suggest that it is an agile, ground-living mammal, estimated to weigh about 80 grams. Its teeth are specialized for eating plant food, with a frugivore or granivore diet on seeds and leaves of ferns and gymnospern plants, supplemented by worms and arthropods. This image relates to a paper that appeared in the 16 August, 2013, issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, by Chong-Xi Yuan at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing, China, and colleagues was titled, "Earliest Evolution of Multituberculate Mammals Revealed by a New Jurassic Fossil." view more
Credit: [Life Reconstruction (top) by April Isch of The University of Chicago, Reconstruction of Skeleton (bottom) by Mark Klingler of Carnegie Museum]