Subject: Sabre Toothed Squirrel fossil found. AKA Ice Age was right! Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:26 pm
Quote :
Truth is sometimes just as strange as fiction. Palaeontologists have unearthed fossils of a bizarre mammal that lived in the shadow of the dinosaurs and was a dead ringer for the sabre-toothed squirrel star of the computer-animated Ice Age films.
Mammals were a fixture of the dinosaur era, but their remains are rarely preserved. The new fossil, which comes from 95-million-year-old rocks in Argentina, is a tantalising sign of what we are missing. Its 2-centimetre-long skull has large eye sockets, a narrow snout and a formidable pair of long canines unlike anything seen before in Mesozoic mammals.
At the time this creature, dubbed Cronopio, roamed Earth, the marsupial and placental mammals that dominate today had already begun to branch out. But Cronopio was a more primitive beast. Its discovery confirms that early mammals tried out body shapes for which no living parallel exists, says Guillermo Rougier at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, whose team made the find.
Cronopio was dug out of rocks rich in the remains of giant sauropod and theropod dinosaurs. Its large eye sockets indicate it was possibly nocturnal, says Christian de Muizon at the Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, who was not a member of Rougier's team. "The function of the long canines is difficult to assess," says Rougier. "There is no real modern model for that."
The shape of the squirrel's molars suggests that it may have had a taste for insects, he adds. Rougier named the fossil after fictional characters in the novels of Argentinian writer Julio Cortázar, but he is well aware of its silver screen doppelgänger. "Some ridiculous-looking cartoon characters can sometimes be found later as real fossils," he says.
Hello! to all you on aw.
And especially "hola!" to all those who remember a fragment of me; tonyflow.
im looking forward to be a little active again after all these years, take good care of me!
Hello, all! As you may see, I am new to the new forum, but I was a part of the previous ones. I wasn't very active then, but this time around, I will change that! *insert inspirational baby fist pump picture here*
<.< >.>
You may or may not have heard of me on the other forum, but I am no longer the super unfamous Rejected, but the incredibly noobish RetardLover. The new name fits more of my …
Anyway, my anime preferences are cyberpunk, horror and supernatural based, but i'm also a typical 90's kid who grew up on Akira, Bebop, Ghosts in Shells, Gundam Wing, DBZ and most anime shown on Toonami and Adult Swim. I enjoy a generous amount of anime outside of those years so take me as open minded in terms of anime discussion.
My Name is Kakalicious and its nice to meet you!
Some of you may know be by a different username and thats cool too
but I decided this was a better name for a forum
I don't see many of my old AW friends around so I hope that they show up and I make new friends as well! oh if you have any questions for me please ask I try to be as kind as possible <3
and I can speak a little Japanese …3>
Hi! Iam new! Nice to meet all of you, i havent been on a forum in like 3 years o.o so iam a litle rusty on my....forum skillz kyaaa ahahaha xD *shuts up now* ^-^ Oh and my name is Ana! ~~~~~Thats all you will get outa me mwahahaha!
Nah jk its only me well i was a dummie and forgot my password yadda yadda
been creepin around the internet and i finally ended up here so Hello im Pup if you don't already know me or forgot since ive been gone...
I like rainbows and ponies and the sweet blood of my enemies
well i think i'll go to bed though its like 1am and i have school