Eomaia
Sign in to saveEomaia ("dawn mother") is a genus of extinct fossil mammals containing the single species Eomaia scansoria, discovered in rocks that were found in the Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China, and dated to the Barremian Age of the Lower Cretaceous about . The single fossil specimen of this species is in length and virtually complete. An estimate of the body weight is . It is exceptionally well-preserved for a 125-million-year-old specimen. Although the fossil's skull is squashed flat, its teeth, tiny foot bones, cartilages and even its fur are visible.
Article
5 sectionsContents
- Description
- Classification
- See also
- References
- External links
Eomaia ("dawn mother") is a genus of extinct fossil mammals containing the single species Eomaia scansoria, discovered in rocks that were found in the Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China, and dated to the Barremian Age of the Lower Cretaceous about . The single fossil specimen of this species is in length and virtually complete. An estimate of the body weight is . It is exceptionally well-preserved for a 125-million-year-old specimen. Although the fossil's skull is squashed flat, its teeth, tiny foot bones, cartilages and even its fur are visible.
==Description== thumb|left|Restoration The Eomaia fossil shows clear traces of hair. However, this is not the earliest clear evidence of hair in the mammalian lineage, as fossils of Volaticotherium, and the docodont Castorocauda, discovered in rocks dated to about , also have traces of fur.