Newly Discovered Species Sheds Light on the Early Diversification of Mammals after Extinction of Dinosaurs

A team of paleontologists from several esteemed institutions recently made a thrilling discovery. They unearthed the fossilized remains of a mammal species that lived approximately 65.5 million years ago. This newly discovered species belonged to the Peripticidae group, which eventually gave rise to modern ungulates such as deer, cows and pigs.

The ancient creature, named Militocodon lidae, was about the size of a chinchilla and weighed between 270 and 460 grams. It is believed that he had an omnivorous diet. This species lived in what is now the United States, about 610,000 years after the mass extinction that marked the end of the Cretaceous period.

The fossilized skull and jaws of Militocodon lidae were found in the Corral Bluffs area of the Denver Basin in Colorado. This area, located east of Colorado Springs, is part of the D1 sequence of the Denver Formation, which extends from the uppermost Cretaceous to the lower Paleocene. The discovery of this fossil provides valuable insight into the early diversification of mammals after the extinction of dinosaurs.

The study on Militocodon lidae was published in the Journal of Mammalian Evolution. According to Dr. Tyler Lyson, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, this discovery sheds light on how and when life recovered after