This week, scientists discovered a new species of ancient mammal that survived what dinosaurs could not.
Meet the Kimbetosalis simmonsae!
The Kimbetopsalis simmonsae was a plant-eating mammal. This rodent-like creature resembles a beaver, and its discovery may give us more clues as to how mammals managed to overtake land and sea after dinosaurs became extinct.
The Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society published the news, revealing that student Carissa Raymond found the fossil while prospecting a site in New Mexico, USA. The student, and their team, led by Dr Stephen Brusatte from the University of Edinburgh, quickly realized that this discovery indicated at an entirely new type of mammal that has not been seen before. The animal’s teeth it was noted, are ideal for plant-chewing, with many cusps at the back and many incisors at the front.
The creature was named after Kimbeto Wash, the area in the state of New Mexico badlands where it was discovered, while the suffix ‘psalis’ references the blade-like look of its teeth.
Life After the Asteroid
This group of mammals, now extinct, are known as multituberculates, and they came to be at the same time as dinosaurs during the Jurassic. They flourished together for over 100 million years until being succeeded by rodents, it seems.
After the extinction of the dinosaurs, researcher Sarah Shelley notes, new mammalian groups began to evolve, developing more specialized adaptations which allowed them to diversify and outgrow other more generalized early mammals.
Dr Busatte explains in his report that these animals were pretty small during the Jurassic. When the asteroid hit and wiped out the dinosaurs, this group survived due to their diet began to proliferate and gradually became bigger. This is how he supposes mammals started to rise through the Paleocene. Researchers add that this and other mammal discoveries from that period of time help to paint a better picture of how mammals survived the catastrophic event.
Mammals Were the Fittest
It seems like mammals were destined to overtake dinosaurs, though a large number of mammal species died with the asteroid hit. They managed to somehow survive and thrive despite the chaos, giving fruit to our surroundings and the creatures we see around us today; this even infers as to what we have become and how we evolved to what we are.
