Castorocauda
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Castorocauda Temporal range: Upper Jurassic |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| (unranked): | Amniota |
| Class: | Synapsida |
| (unranked): | Mammaliaformes |
| Order: | Docodonta |
| Family: | Docodontidae |
| Genus: | Castorocauda Ji et al., 2006 |
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Castorocauda is a genus of small, semi-aquatic relative of mammals which lived in the Jurassic period, around 154 million years ago. It was found in lakebed sediments of the Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia. Castorocauda] was highly specialized, with adaptations like those of modern semi-aquatic mammals such as beavers, otters, and the platypus (convergent evolution). It also had traces of fur.[1]
Castorocauda] is one of the near-mammals in a group called the Docodonta.[1]
References [change]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ji, Q.; Luo Z-X, Yuan C-X, and Tabrum A.R. (2006). "A swimming Mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic and ecomorphological diversification of early mammals". Science 311 (5764): 1123. doi:10.1126/science.1123026. PMID 16497926. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/311/5764/1123. See also the news item at "Jurassic "Beaver" found; rewrites history of mammals". http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0223_060223_beaver.html.
