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The teeth are much older than the rocks they were preserved in
STATES CHRONICLE – A team of paleontologists from the University of Portsmouth stumbled upon two fossilized teeth of a great scientific importance. After taking a closer look at them, they determined they must have belonged to some of the first mammals which ever roamed Earth.
The teeth fossils seemed older than the rocks they were kept in
During an expedition in southern Britain, the researchers stumbled upon two fossilized teeth which looked a bit odd. They took them for a more thorough study, and discovered they didn’t really match the other discoveries made in rocks belonging to the same era as those in the region, namely the Jurassic.
This coast is well-known for having preserved many fossils over the years, and has even received the nickname of Jurassic Coast. However, no other discoveries were similar to this one. Therefore, researchers decided to collect some more rock samples from the area, and see what it can tell them.
Both fossils belonged to two new species
This is how they found out the two small teeth fossils were about 145 million years old. However, they didn’t belong to the same species, and both of them must have coexisted with dinosaurs. Judging from other similar findings, they established the two teeth might have belonged to some of the earliest mammals which existed on Earth.
The fossils gave the researchers even more information about the species they had belonged to. They looked at the shape of the teeth, and said they were sharp and good for piercing food. Also, one of the species must have definitely fed mostly on insects. They both must have been quite small, covered in a lot of fur, and were active during nighttime.
They will continue the study of the fossils, but have already established they belong to two entirely new species. Therefore, they developed a paper on these species, published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons
