Jurassic Fossil Breaks the Mold
In modern times it would be called a chimera, a furry, fish-eating swimmer and burrower a bit bigger than a tree squirrel, with an otterlike body, teeth like a seal, webbed hind feet like a platypus and a flat tail just like a beaver.But it lived — and died — about 164 million years ago in a swampy Jurassic lake bed northeast of Beijing in what is now the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China. Its multinational team of discoverers called the fossil Castorocauda lutrasimilis — “beaver-tailed sort-of otter.”
Very cool stuff.
are we going to uncover a pork-eating, wine-drinking “prophet Muhammad” any time in the near future?
Best of luck, Greg.