Beast of five teeth: Chilean scientists unearth skunk that walked among dinosaurs
APRIL 8, 20215:44 PM UPDATED 17 MINUTES AGO
By Fabian Cambero
2 MIN READ
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SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A fossil of a skunk-like mammal that lived during the age of dinosaurs has been discovered in Chilean Patagonia, adding further proof to recent evidence that mammals roamed that part of South America a lot earlier than previously thought.
A part of the creature’s fossilized jawbone with five teeth attached were discovered close to the famous Torres del Paine national park.
Christened Orretherium tzen, meaning ‘Beast of Five Teeth’ in an amalgam of Greek and a local indigenous language, the animal is thought to have lived between 72 and 74 million years ago during the Upper Cretaceous period, at the end of the Mesozoic era, and been a herbivore.
Prior to its discovery, and the teeth of the Magallanodon baikashkenke, a rodent-like creature, in the same area last year, only mammals living between 38 and 46 million years ago had been found in the southernmost tip of the Americas, the team that discovered it said.
More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-chile-science-new-mammal/beast-of-five-teeth-chilean-scientists-unearth-skunk-that-walked-among-dinosaurs-idUSKBN2BV36M
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