Found ‘ice rat’ that survived the disappearance of polar dinosaurs 15:56

Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) have discovered the fossil of a small mammal that lived in perhaps Earth’s harshest environment about 73 million years ago. Research published Journal of Systematic Paleontology.

Paleontologists described the new species using several teeth, each the size of a grain of sand. The animal got a Latin name sikuomys micros – from “Siku”, an Iñupiat word meaning “ice” and “Mine” And “micros“, – Greek words meaning “mouse” and “small”. The Inupiat are one of the indigenous peoples of Alaska.

The animal wasn’t actually a mouse, but belonged to an now-extinct family of mammals. Gypsonictopidae. Outwardly, the furry animal may look like a modern shrew and weigh 11 grams or less.

All year long, the “ice rat” lived in the north of Alaska, which at that time was located beyond the planet’s Arctic Circle. The mammal probably spent four months of the year in the dark and minus temperatures of winter before hibernating. Burrowing under fallen leaves or underground, the animals fed on whatever they could find, perhaps insects and worms. Its small size allowed it to manage with a small amount of food.

Perhaps this lifestyle allowed the “ice rat” to survive the extinction of the dinosaurs after a meteorite fall 66 million years ago. The giants lived in Alaska, where there was an arctic forest ecosystem at the time.

Interestingly, mammals tend to thrive in colder climates. The ice rat and its close relatives are an exception. Paleontologists discover related species sikuomys microsThey lived thousands of kilometers south of Alaska and were three to five times larger.

ancient scientists to create The remains of a small whale “pharaoh” in Egypt.