Ancestors of the earliest known tree-dwelling, as well as subterranean mammals have just been discovered in China.
The fossils, described in the journal Science, suggest that the wide-ranging ecological diversity of modern mammals had a precedent more than 160 million years ago.
“We consistently find with every new fossil that the earliest mammals were just as diverse in both feeding and locomotor adaptations as modern mammals," Zhe-Xi Luo, a co-author of both papers, said in a press release. "The groundwork for mammalian success today appears to have been laid long ago."
Read More