A recent discovery made by a team of paleontologists from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, Kent State University, the University of Michigan, and City University of New York has brought new light to the early diversification of mammals following the extinction of dinosaurs. They found the fossilized remains of a previously unknown mammal species named Militocodon lydae, which lived approximately 65.5 million years ago. This creature belonged to the group Periptychidae, which eventually gave rise to modern hoofed mammals like deer, cows, and pigs.
Militocodon lydae was about the size of a chinchilla and weighed between 270 and 460 grams. Scientists believe it had an omnivorous diet and lived in what is now North America around 610,000 years after the mass extinction that marked the end of the Cretaceous period. The fossil skull and jaws were discovered in Corral Bluffs area of Colorado’s Denver Basin. This region is part of D1 sequence in Denver Formation spanning from uppermost Cretaceous to lower Paleocene.
The study published in Journal of Mammalian Evolution reveals that this discovery provides valuable insight into life rebounding after a mass extinction event that wiped out dinosaurs. Dr. Tyler Lyson, curator at Denver Museum of Nature & Science commented on how this well-preserved fossil allowed scientists to paint a clearer picture during this critical period in Earth’s history.
