An incredible fossil depicts a mammal locked in battle with a dinosaur — a scene so unique, they did extra legwork to make sure it was real.
While there are, as Mallon acknowledged, "examples today of small carnivorous mammals taking down much, much larger prey," there hadn't until now been any fossilized examples of a mammal tangling with a dinosaur, in spite of their hundreds of millions of years of coexistence.
"We rely on spectacular fossils like this to really fill in the gaps of how these ancient ecosystems work," he continued, "because we can’t always rely on just the bones alone to tell us these stories." Though this rare and spectacular scuffle raises as many questions as it answers — not least of which precisely being how they died in the midst of combat — it's nevertheless an incredible find that could shed light on the epochs during which dinosaurs and mammals roamed the Earth together., it'd be "the best I’ve ever seen."
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dramatic fossil shows pugnacious mammal attacking a dinosaurWhile there is little doubt that many a Mesozoic mammal became a meal for a dinosaur, it may come as a surprise to learn that some mammals also dined on dinos.
Read more »
Mammals Preyed on Much Larger Dinosaurs, a Stunning New Fossil RevealsAn extraordinary fossil captures the moment when a hungry mammal attacked a dinosaur
Read more »
Amazing fossil hints mammals hunted dinosaurs three times their sizeSmall mammals that lived around 125 million years ago may have preyed on dinosaurs more than three times their size, a strange fossil unearthed in China suggests.
Read more »
Everything You Need to Know Before Buying a Dinosaur Skeleton for Your HomeA T. rex makes for an awe-inspiring sculptural piece for that awkward-to-fill atrium. But the risks are high.
Read more »