Ancient small mammals on Scotland’s Isle of Skye may have had longer lifespans and developmental periods than their modern counterparts. Researchers studied the fossilized remains of two mouse-sized mammals, one adult and one juvenile, that lived around 166 million years ago during the Middle Jurassic.
The study found that the adult was about 7 years old when it died, while the juvenile was between 7 to 24 months old. The researchers also discovered that the juvenile was still replacing its baby teeth with adult teeth, suggesting a slower development rate than modern mammals of similar size.
This finding suggests that ancient small mammals may have had longer lifespans and developmental periods, which could mean other mammals from the same time period may have shared these characteristics. However, further research is needed to confirm this theory.
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Source: https://phys.org/news/2024-07-isle-skye-discovery-ancient-mammals.html