What is Juramaia?
Q: What is Juramaia?
A: Juramaia is the earliest known eutherian mammal. It is a small shrew-like mammal of body length about 70–100 mm.
Q: Where was Juramaia found?
A: Juramaia was found in the Upper Jurassic deposits of western Liaoning, China, at the Daxigou site, Jianchang, from the Tiaojishan Formation.
Q: How old is Juramaia?
A: Juramaia is dated at about 160 million years ago.
Q: What insight does the discovery of Juramaia provide?
A: The discovery of Juramaia provides new insight into the evolution of eutherian mammals. It shows their lineage diverged from that of the marsupials 35 million years earlier than previously thought.
Q: What is the impact of Juramaia's discovery on modern methods of dating the evolution?
A: Juramaia's discovery fills gaps in the fossil record and helps to calibrate modern, DNA-based methods of dating the evolution.
Q: What is the suggested habitat of the basal stock of Eutheria?
A: The forelimb bones of Juramaia have climbing adaptations, so it is suggested that the basal stock of Eutheria was arboreal.
Q: What was found in the collection of Juramaia?
A: A nearly complete skeleton, with an incomplete skull with full dentition, was found in the collection of Juramaia.
