Home / China / Sci&Tech / Photos Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Squirrel-like Mammal Flies Before Birds
Adjust font size:

Chinese scientists have claimed that a squirrel-like mammal that lived 125 million years ago appears to have discovered gliding flight at about the same time, or even earlier, than the first birds.

Researchers said the extinct mammal, called Volaticotherium antiquus, which means "ancient flying beast", had features adapted for life in trees. No other mammals from the Mesozoic period -- the period in which flying reptiles, birds, and flowering plants developed and dinosaurs bestrode the earth -- had such characteristics.

The fossil, found in Daohugou, Ningcheng county in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, pushes back the first record of gliding flight for mammals by 70 million years, according to the findings of a group of Chinese researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"This discovery rolls back the earliest record of gliding flight for mammals by at least 70 million years and demonstrates that mammals were diverse in their locomotor strategies and life styles," writes the research group in the study report.

"Mammals experimented with aerial habits at about the same time as, if not earlier than, birds," said leading author Jin Meng and co-authors Yaoming Hu, Yuanqing Wang, Xiaolin Wang and Chuankui Li.

Their study is published in Thursday's issue of the prestigious British journal Nature. The mammal was about 12 to 14 centimeters long and weighed 70 grams.

Its teeth were made for eating insects and it had a big furry patagium -- a flying membrane -- for gliding flight. The patagium was joined to a long tail and limbs, according to the scientists.

The animal lived on a diet of small insects which it probably caught while clambering through the tree tops. Its agility in the air was probably not good enough to be able to catch its prey in flight, as most insectivorous bats do, according to the scientists.

It was most probably nocturnal, not only because small Mesozoic mammals are generally thought to be nocturnal, but also because gliding mammals are predominantly arboreal and nocturnal, the study says.

The earliest identified gliding mammal was a 30-million-year-old extinct rodent. The first known modern bat, which is capable of powered flight, dates to 51 million years ago. It is assumed that proto-bats were probably gliding much earlier but no fossil records of them have been found.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2006)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read

Related Stories
Prehistoric 'Flying Squirrel' from the Mongolian Steppes
Monkeying Around
SiteMap | About Us | RSS | Newsletter | Feedback
SEARCH THIS SITE
Copyright ? China.org.cn. All Rights Reserved ????E-mail: webmaster@china.org.cn Tel: 86-10-88828000 京ICP證 040089號
主站蜘蛛池模板: 免费a级午夜绝情美女视频| 国产成人免费午夜在线观看| 一区二区日韩欧美| 日本伊人精品一区二区三区| 亚洲人成激情在线播放| 正在播放乱人伦| 免费v片在线观看视频网站| 美女扒开尿口让男人捅爽| 国产免费观看青青草原网站| 亚洲色图五月天| 国产精品无码翘臀在线观看| 99久久中文字幕伊人| 女人疯狂喷水爽视频| 一级毛片恃级毛片直播| 成人综合激情另类小说| 久久成人午夜电影mp4| 日韩视频在线观看| 亚洲一区二区三区电影| 欧美日韩a级片| 亚洲狠狠婷婷综合久久蜜芽| 爱情岛永久入口网址首页| 免费无码不卡视频在线观看| 精品在线第一页| 又大又硬一进一出做视频| 老子午夜伦不卡影院| 国产一区二区三区精品久久呦| 香蕉97超级碰碰碰免费公| 国产成人久久久精品二区三区| 四虎国产精品高清在线观看| 国产精品亚洲精品青青青| 2019中文字幕无线乱码| 国产精品莉莉欧美自在线线| 91香蕉国产在线观看人员| 国语自产偷拍精品视频偷拍| 99精品久久久久久久婷婷| 天天操天天干天天干| igao视频在线| 女人18毛片一级毛片在线| www.色亚洲| 女扒开尿口让男桶30分钟| www.欧美色图|