Newly Discovered Fossil Species Sheds Light on Ancient Mammal Relatives

A newly discovered fossil may just tell archaeologists a bit more about the ancient relatives of mammals. Uncovered in Mozambique, the fossil is a new species and genus of vertebrate that lived about 256 million years ago and is part of a group of animals that included a number of extinct lineages, including mammals and their direct ancestors.

The new species is called Niassodon mfumukasi. Part of a group of animals called synapsids, Niassodon was first discovered during fieldwork in 2009. Synapsida include a number of extinct lineages that dominated communities on land in the Late Permian, which occurred roughly 260 to 252 bmillion years ago.

Intrigued by the new fossil, the researchers then used micro-computed tomography in order to digitally reconstruct the bones of this ancient animal. The scientists didn't just content themselves with bones, though; they were also able to digitally reconstruct the species' brain.

So what did they find? The reconstruction revealed new information on the brain anatomy of early synapsids. This, in turn, is important for understanding the evolution of many features of the mammalian brain. More specifically, the scientists were able to isolate all individual bones preserved, which allowed them to create a new topological color code, codified mathematically, for the cranial bones. This code will allow the scientists to standardize the colors used in similar digital models built for other animals.

The findings are important for better understanding the evolution and history not only of synapsids, but also of mammals. This, in turn, could shed light on future evolutionary studies.

The fossil itself is currently on display in the Lourinha Museum in Portugal, but will soon return to Mozambique where it will become part of the collections of the National Museum of Geology in Maputo.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.