Scientists unearthed two fossils belonging to “scratch-diggers” that lived in the northeastern part of China sometime between 145 million and 100 million years ago (probably closer to around 120 million years ago). These are the first of the ancient burrowing mammal-like animals found from that time period – specifically the Jehol Biota which includes living creatures that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period in northeast China.
These two new species were distant relatives but they each developed their own unique digging skills. One of the fossils belonged to a foot-long mammal-like reptile called a Tritylodontidae and this new species has been named
Fossiomanus sinensis. The second fossil was a 7-inch-long type of Eutriconodontan called