A team of paleontologists from Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Kent State University, the University of Michigan, and City University of New York have made an exciting discovery. They have found the fossilized remains of a mammal species that lived on Earth approximately 65.5 million years ago. The newly-discovered species, named Militocodon lydae, belonged to a group of animals called Periptychidae, which eventually gave rise to modern hoofed mammals like deer, cows, and pigs.
Militocodon lydae was about the size of a chinchilla, weighing between 270 and 460 grams, and likely had an omnivorous diet. It lived in what is now the United States, approximately 610,000 years after the mass extinction that marked the end of the Cretaceous period. The fossil skull and jaws of this ancient creature were unearthed in the Corral Bluffs area in the Denver Basin, Colorado.
The discovery of Militocodon lydae is significant as rocks from this time period have a sparse fossil record. Dr. Tyler Lyson, curator of vertebrate paleontology at Denver Museum of Nature & Science, describes the finding of a fossil mammal skull as a crucial step in documenting the early diversification of mammals following Earth’s last mass extinction event. The Corral Bluffs area, where the fossils were found, provides important insights into the rapid diversification of mammalian life after the extinction of dinosaurs.
The research on Militocodon lydae has been published in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution. The study sheds light on how life rebounded after the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. The discovery of this ancient mammal has allowed scientists to better understand the timeline and processes involved in the resurgence of life on Earth.