Yet despite the exquisite preservation of its remains, there are aspects of Spinolestes xenarthrosus that remain unknown.
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The fossil is the oldest in which mammalian organ systems can be identified.
The fossil is effectively-preserved and the analysis group was in a position to even verify the hair constructions and interior organs. The research team has dubbed it as a “cute furball”.
Whereas fossils of triconodonts have been found in many areas of North America and Eurasia, Spinolestes is the first from the group to be found in Spain, Luo says.
This intrepid little guy now is providing the best look ever at the mammals that thrived during the Mesozoic Era, the age of dinosaurs.
“Normally you find bones and you find skeletons – and there are many, many fossil mammal skeletons found, but never these soft parts in such great detail”, explained Prof Thomas Martin, from the University of Bonn in Germany. “The invention of Spinolestes is extraordinarily thrilling for me as a result of it gives data on constructions that we believed would by no means be accessible”. It can be considered as a member of a primitive mammalian group called eutriconodonts that was found almost 170 million years ago.
According to paleontologist Thomas Martin from the University of Born, the discovery offers incredible insight into the biology of organisms that existed millions of years ago.
“It would look like small rat, except it has a more pointy nose”, Luo said. This extinct mammal combines all varieties of hairs and hair-associated buildings of contemporary mammals: “lengthy guard hairs, velvet underfur, spines and scutes”. The creature appeared similar to a modern mouse and may shed light on the development of early mammals.
The rodent was roughly nine and a half inches, and weight about 2.5 ounces. The unusually well-preserved fossil also contains an external ear lobe, soft tissues of the liver, lung and diaphragm, and plate-like structures made of keratin known as dermal scutes.
“Spinolestes is a spectacular discover. It is stunning to see nearly perfectly preserved skin and hair structures fossilized in microscopic detail in such an old fossil”, said study co-author Zhe-Xi Luo, PhD, professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago.
The ancient creature, called Spinolestes xenarthrosus, has been preserved very well and was found in Las Hoyas Quarry in central Spain. Spanish paleontologists have studied the positioning since 1985 and located a whole bunch of fossils, together with vital birds and dinosaurs. Its teeth and skeletal features indicate it was a ground-dweller that ate insects. These biofilms can form a protective coating, preserving the soft tissues long enough for them to fossilize over much longer periods of time.
Individual hair follicles and bulbs, as well as the composition of individual hair shafts, could be identified using an electron scanning microscope.
Spinolestes had remarkably trendy mammalian hair and pores and skin buildings, resembling compound follicles through which a number of hairs emerge from the identical pore.
It had small spiky spines on its lower back, as well as scales similar to an armadillo’s, helping it to fend off predators.
The hedgehog like mammal has been labeled Spinolestes xenarthrosus. “There is also a brownish-red spot in the abdominal cavity just behind the lung tissue, which derives from the liver (liver tissue is very rich in iron and its fossilized remainders therefore have a reddish-brown color)”. The sharp boundary between the two suggests that Spinolestes had a strong muscular diaphragm, which in turn hints at the ability to rapidly breathe and fuel an active lifestyle. However, it is not related to spiny mice or any other living mammal. Armored shrews, for instance, use their distinctive vertebral power to push aside logs or useless palm leaves to feed on bugs inside.
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The fossil dates back a few 125 million years to a time when dinosaurs were roaming the earth and mammals moved about mostly at night.
