Half Mammal, Half Reptile Discovered In Utah

denver.cbslocal.com...

It may have weighed only 2 1/2 pounds and stood about 6 inches tall, but the discovery of a half mammal, half reptile’s skull in eastern Utah has huge implications for geologic timelines.

This is a really small animal but it does show that there can be mammalian reptilians. Very interesting find, no picture provided but it is just the skull.

The skull of the new species, Cifelliodon wahkarmoosuch, came from a snout-bearing, catlike animal with buck teeth and molars for crushing plants.

This description sounds very much like the statues of the reptilian females with babies we have all seen.

“Based on the unlikely discovery of this near-complete fossil cranium, we now recognize a new, cosmopolitan group of early mammal relatives,” said Adam Huttenlocker, lead author of the study and assistant professor of clinical integrative anatomical sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. The study was published in the journal Nature on May 16 and updates the understanding of how mammals evolved and dispersed across major continents during the age of dinosaurs. This creature, although it was covered in hair and suckled its young, laid eggs like the modern-day platypus.

The fossil discovery emphasizes that these type of animals and some other vertebrate groups existed globally during the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition, meaning the corridors for migration via Pangean landmasses remained intact into the Early Cretaceous.

a reply to: SeaWorthy

This is fascinating, I hadn't heard of this! Thank you for sharing this!!

I did find another article from University of Southern California that goes into detail as well:

news.usc.edu...

a reply to: SeaWorthy

So the only part that looks reptilian to me is its feet, although covered in hair they are shaped similar to some reptiles.
The only thing the article says about the animal being related to reptiles is the fact that it laid eggs.

Platypus and Echidna lay eggs but are not considered "half reptile". I fail to understand the reason for the half reptile classification the article is claiming.
Can anyone explain this?

Is it like a marsupial but opposite or what?

Marsupials are just plain weird.

I shall have a read. Thanks!

originally posted by: SeaWorthy

Cousin.

You know, you could be on to something! Otherwise, the best I could come up with was that she misread a travel brochure, went to hear The Moron Tabernacle Choir. Has a decidedly liberal ring to it, no? And isn't there also some cosmic, Mormon lizard thing, a lizard that writes letters? Oh! The cousin sent her an invitation. I see!

originally posted by: ShadowLink
a reply to: SeaWorthy

So the only part that looks reptilian to me is its feet, although covered in hair they are shaped similar to some reptiles.
The only thing the article says about the animal being related to reptiles is the fact that it laid eggs.

Platypus and Echidna lay eggs but are not considered "half reptile". I fail to understand the reason for the half reptile classification the article is claiming.
Can anyone explain this?

I was wondering how they knew it lay eggs at all when all they discovered was a skull?
Then I noticed it was the keck school of medicine so maybe their biased.

originally posted by: Jonjonj
Is it like a marsupial but opposite or what?

Marsupials are just plain weird.

I shall have a read. Thanks!

So this find means the earth was a whole (Panthalassaia)and did not break up for much longer than previously thought, pretty important find. Anyway who knows may be the beginning of disclosure about the mythological lizard people world wide.

The discovery of the fossil likely means that the Pangaea split likely happened more recently than scientists thought. The finding also suggests that a group of reptile-like mammals bridging the transition between reptiles and mammals saw a "burst of evolution" in several continents.

www.techtimes.com...

a reply to: surfer_soul

I was wondering how they knew it lay eggs at all when all they discovered was a skull? Then I noticed it was the keck school of medicine so maybe their biased.

It looks like from what I am reading that they know because of many other examples of this creature. Finding one on this continent is new and changes their previous conclusions about time periods.

a reply to: surfer_soul

Yeah I think many areas of science use an amount of speculation to fill in the unknowns.

Granted there are many things that can be learned from a skull, I just don't know how one can learn that an animal laid eggs from it. The article doesn't explain that part.

originally posted by: SeaWorthy

originally posted by: Jonjonj
Is it like a marsupial but opposite or what?

Marsupials are just plain weird.

I shall have a read. Thanks!

So this find means the earth was a whole (Panthalassaia)and did not break up for much longer than previously thought, pretty important find. Anyway who knows may be the beginning of disclosure about the mythological lizard people world wide.

No, it means that corridors for migrations remained, not that the land masses weren't broken up.
And if you're talking about land, use the term "Pangea." "Pantalassa" was the name of the ocean surrounding Pangea.

Harte

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: SeaWorthy

originally posted by: Jonjonj
Is it like a marsupial but opposite or what?

Marsupials are just plain weird.

I shall have a read. Thanks!

So this find means the earth was a whole (Panthalassaia)and did not break up for much longer than previously thought, pretty important find. Anyway who knows may be the beginning of disclosure about the mythological lizard people world wide.

No, it means that corridors for migrations remained, not that the land masses weren't broken up.
And if you're talking about land, use the term "Pangea." "Pantalassa" was the name of the ocean surrounding Pangea.

Harte

So either the reptimamallians had land or ice bridges. Ice bridges would be problematic for reptiles though right.

originally posted by: Harte

originally posted by: SeaWorthy

originally posted by: Jonjonj
Is it like a marsupial but opposite or what?

Marsupials are just plain weird.

I shall have a read. Thanks!

So this find means the earth was a whole (Panthalassaia)and did not break up for much longer than previously thought, pretty important find. Anyway who knows may be the beginning of disclosure about the mythological lizard people world wide.

No, it means that corridors for migrations remained, not that the land masses weren't broken up.
And if you're talking about land, use the term "Pangea." "Pantalassa" was the name of the ocean surrounding Pangea.

Harte

Thanks, I actually let spell check replace my word. I also said it backward:-)

The discovery of the fossil likely means that thePangaea split likely happened more recently than scientists thought. The finding also suggests that a group of reptile-like mammals bridging the transition between reptiles and mammals saw a "burst of evolution" in several continents.

www.techtimes.com...

I wonder sometimes how many of these smaller fossilized species aren't really a hatch-ling, or juvenile of an already known adult fossil of the same species?
In other words - not a separate species at all, just a youngster.

I saw a Ted talk on this by Jack Horner.



But were dinosaurs even reptiles in the modern sense? Considering they were probably warm-blooded, I suppose yes and no.
Reptiles with a mammalian twist.
www.activewild.com...

Brotherhood of the Snake .....

It isn't a myth

Not that it matters..

I call bs.

looks like someones petrified doll.

however i will try to find more info to sway myself but still.....toats bs

took 5 seconds...
www.livescience.com...

A small, furry animal with a blunt snout and beady eyes scuttled across what is now eastern Utah some 130 million years ago. And while the wee beast was surely unusual and fascinating, there's one thing it was definitely not: half-mammal and half-reptile.

a reply to: Scrutinizing

Just hiking, trying to clear her mind still after the election results.

a reply to: howtonhawky

So, not a hybrid half-and-half, but a "missing link," so to speak--a transitional animal that wasn't quite full-on mammal yet, but still retained non-mammalian traits consistent with reptiles.

Still neat as hell.