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A team of scientists in Chile has unearthed the fossilized remains of a tiny, mouse-sized mammal that lived during the age of dinosaurs, shedding new light on prehistoric life in South America.
The species, named "Yeutherium pressor", lived approximately 74 million years ago during the Upper Cretaceous period. Weighing between 30 and 40 grams-about one ounce-it is the smallest mammal fossil ever found in Chilean Patagonia and one of the oldest known from the region.
The discovery was led by paleontologist Hans Püschel and a team from the University of Chile and the Millennium Nucleus on Early Mammals research center. Their findings were published this month in the British scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The fossil, which includes a small piece of jaw with a molar and parts of two other molars, was found in the Río de las Chinas Valley in Chile’s Magallanes region, around 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) south of Santiago.
Despite its resemblance to a rodent, Yeutherium pressor was likely more primitive. Scientists believe it may have either laid eggs, like the modern platypus, or carried its young in a pouch, similar to marsupials such as kangaroos or opossums.
The shape of its teeth suggests it fed on hard vegetation, indicating a specialized diet adapted to its ancient environment.
“This fossil helps fill a critical gap in our understanding of mammalian evolution in Gondwana,” said Püschel, referring to the ancient supercontinent that once included South America, Africa, Antarctica, and Australia.
Like the dinosaurs it coexisted with, Yeutherium pressor is believed to have gone extinct around 66 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, likely as a result of the mass extinction event that wiped out much of Earth's life.
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