image: The fossil of Agilodocodon scansorius. The specimen is preserved in two rock slabs. The main part (PM001138A, left) and counterpart (PM001138B, right) of Agilodocodon scansorius type specimen of Beijing Museum of Natural History (BMNH). Found in lake sediments of the 165 million years old Daohugou Fossil Site of Inner Mongolia of China, Agilodocodon scansorius is preserved with a halo of dense, carbonized furs and hair impressions. The horny claws on hands and feet are also preserved. This material relates to papers that appeared in the Feb. 13, 2015 issue of Science, published by AAAS. The paper, Z.-X. Luo at the University of Chicago in Chicago, IL, and colleagues was titled, 'Evolutionary development in basal mammaliaforms as revealed by a docodontan.' The paper, Q.-J. Meng at the Beijing Museum of Natural History in Beijing, China, and colleagues was titled, 'An arboreal docodont from the Jurassic and mammaliaform ecological diversification.' view more
Credit: [Credit: Zhe-Xi Luo, the University of Chicago]