Rare Fossils Reveal New Species of Ancient Gliding Mammals

It’s not a bird or a plane—it’s more like a souped-up squirrel.

This week, paleontologists unveiled two remarkable new species of dainty gliding mammals that lived alongside dinosaurs nearly 160 million years ago.

While they are not the first mammalian gliders known from this time period, these specimens are unique because they have thin, furry membranes of skin attached to their front and back limbs that are clearly preserved in the rock.

“It is pretty obvious from looking at these fossils that they are gliders, due to the carbonized skin,” says study coauthor David Grossnickle, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago.

Named Maiopatagium furculiferum and Vilevolodon diplomyos, the two new species are offering clues to the ways various mammals have taken to the skies over evolutionary time scales.

“Gliding is one of the cutest and one of the most striking locomotor adaptations,” says study coauthor Zhe-Xi Luo, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago.

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http://news.nationalgeographic.com