By Mike Cummings
November 2, 2020
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Filikomys primaevus’ powerful shoulders and elbows suggest it was a burrowing mammal. Art by Misaki Ouchida.
The fossil remains of several small mammals discovered in tightly packed clusters in western Montana provide the earliest evidence of social behavior in mammals, according to a new study co-authored by a Yale scientist.
The fossils, which are about 75.5 million years old but exquisitely preserved, offer a rare glimpse into mammalian behavior during the Late Cretaceous Period when dinosaurs dominated, and indicate that mammals developed sociality much earlier than previously thought, said Eric Sargis, professor of anthropology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and a co-author of the study.