Fossil of a new kind of mammal of the age of dinosaurs discovered in the Gobi desert in Mongolia

A joint research team discovered a fossil belonging to a genus and species of mammals previously unknown in the layers of the upper Cretaceous (100 to 66 million people) of the Gobi de Mongolia desert.

The animal the size of a mouse is named Ravjaa Ishiii: The name of the species honors the danzanravjaa duduity, a venerated Buddhist monk of the 19th century, and the late Kenichi Ishii, former research director of the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences, which helped establish the research partnership in Mongolia.

The work is published in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. The team included researchers from the University of Sciences of Okayama (OUS) and the Institute of Paleontology and Geology, Academy of Sciences (IPMA).

During a joint expedition in 2019 to the Baynshire formation, the fossil deposit in the Gobi desert, in Mongolia, the team found a partial partial jaw of one centimeter. The analysis suggested that the sample is a member of Zhelestidae, a family of Cretaceous mammals.

However, its unusually high molars and its distinctive jaw shape differ from known parents, and therefore the study has established a new genre and a new species. The discovery marks the first record of a Zhestid in Mongolia, showing that the group also prospered far inside the land, not only along the old ribs as was deduced previously.

The suggested age of the formation of Baynshire corresponds to the early propagation of angiosperms (flower plants) in terrestrial ecosystems. The robust nature of the molars resembles those of mammals eating seeds and fruit, providing an intriguing overview that the first Euthériens already exploited resources created by flower plants.

Tsukasa Okoshi (OUT’s principal and doctoral candidate) said: “Due to the COVVI -19 pandemic, the publication process took longer than expected, but we were finally able to establish the scientific importance of this specimen. We hope that this research will serve as a starting point for other taxonomic studies to make other fossils of small vertebrates – of the same site and the era and will help To note the rich fossils – the same sites and the era and will be overwhelmingly will help to avoid rich fossils – Bio -icluds.

OUS Professor Mototaka Saneyoshi added: “Finding such a small fossil in the large expanse of the Gobi desert looks like a gift from the Gobi desert. It is nothing less than miraculous.”