Indian fossils support a new hypothesis for the origin of furry mammals

New research published today in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Describes a fossil family that sheds light on the origins of Perisodectiles ill a group of mammals that include horses, rhinos and typers. It gives an understanding of the controversial questions about where these scattered animals evolved, concluding that they arose in or near present-day India.

With more than 350 new fossils, a 1-year study combined with a complete picture of the skeletal anatomy of an extinct cousin of the perisodactyls living in the Indian subcontinent about 55 million years ago.

These findings included a sheep-sized animal with moderate running ability and features that were intermediate between specialized perisodactyls and their more generalized mammal precursors. Comparing its bones with many other living and extinct mammals, it has been found that the Cambatherium represents a phase of evolution more than any known perisodactyl, supporting a group of India or a nearby group Before.

This new landmark article was selected for publication as part of the prestigious Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Memoir Series, a special annual publication that provides a more in-depth analysis of highly significant vertebrate fossils.

The 2005 Mbethrium, first described in 2005, is the oldest member of an extinct group that had branches prior to the evolution of Perisodectiles, providing scientists with unique clues to the group’s ancient origins and evolution.

“Modern-order arthropods (also-told ungulates), perisodactyla, and primates appeared suddenly in the Northern Hemisphere about 56 million years ago at the beginning of the Eocene, but their geographical source remains a mystery,” Ken Rose explains. And lead author of the study at Johns Hopkins University.

Pro roses were suggested by a new concept that perisodactyls could develop in isolation in India. India was then an island continent flowing north, but later it collided with the Asia continent to form a continuous land mass.

“In 1990, Krause and Masse proposed that when India collided with Asia, moving from Madagascar to its north, these commands could be developed in India.”

Equipped with this new hypothesis, the roses and companions received money from the National Geographic Society to explore India for rocks with rare fossils of suitable age that provide serious evidence for the origin of perisodactyls and other groups of mammals.

The first trip to Rajasthan in 2001 was a bit of a success, “although we found only a few fish bones on that trip, the following year our Indian ally Rajendra Rana continued to explore the lignite mines to the south and came to the Vastan mine in Gujarat.”

This new mine proved more promising. Rose added: “Our team was able to return to the mine in 2004, where our Belgian collaborator Thierry Smith found the first mammal fossils, including a combatherium.”

Encouraged, the team returned to the mines and, despite challenging conditions, collected fossils of the Cambatherium and many other vertebrates.

“The lignite mines had heat, constant noise and coal dust stiffening – basically an open pit that was being actively excavated 24/7 trying to work hundreds of feet below the bottom of the lignite mines,” he said.

Through a combination of many years of challenging fieldwork, the team can finally shed light on the mammalian mystery. Despite the abundance of perisodactyls in the Northern Hemisphere, the Cambatherium suggests that the group grew in isolation near or near India during the Paleocene (-566-66 million years ago) before dispersing to other continents when land connections with Asia occurred.