According to a new research paper published in the international academic journal Nature on April 30, paleontologists found the most complete skeleton fossil of mammals from gondwana in the Mesozoic Era (252 million to 65 million years ago) in Madagascar, which represents a new species and named it "Crazy Beast". The discovery offers new clues to understanding early mammalian evolution. The picture shows the skeleton restoration of the "adalatherium hui". Sun Zifa/Wen (Natural Research/Courtesy photo) and rey atuchin draw
The corresponding author of the study, David Krause, of the Museum of Natural Sciences in Denver, Colorado, USA, and colleagues describe the most complete skeleton of a mammal from the Mesozoic Gondwana of Madagascar, a mammal that once lived in the ancient southern supercontinent Gondwana, with only scattered jaws, teeth and a skull previously found. The most complete skeleton fossil of the newly discovered Gondwana theropod mammal represents a new species, which the researchers named "adalatherium hui" — derived from the Malagasy word for "madness" and the Greek word for "beast." The skeleton consisted of a large number of vertebrae and a short, wide coccyx, with small ossicles and cartilage tissue retained. The picture shows the fossil bones of the "adalatherium hui" in the sandstone matrix. Sun Zifa/Wen (Natural Research/Courtesy Photo)
Although the "Wild Beasts" fossil specimen represents a juvenile individual estimated to weigh 3.1 kilograms, it belongs to the largest mammalian class known to have originated from Gondwana in the Mesozoic Era. This may reflect the sprawl of isolated evolution of species, the researchers say, as the most obvious and quantifiable effects of evolution on the island have been found to be related to body size. David Krause and his colleagues placed the new species in close proximity to the polyodont, a rodent-like mammal from the northern continent, by analyzing the evolutionary relationship between the new species and other species. They found that the new species, the Mad Beast, had a complete skeleton and survived in an isolated island environment in Madagascar, providing an opportunity to study how The Cenozoic mammals evolved in isolated environments. The picture shows a side view of the skeleton restoration of the "adalatherium hui" spliced from CT scans. Sun Zifa/Wen (Natural Science Research/Courtesy of Simone Hoffmann Cartography)