Pregnant Horse Fossil Shares Surprising Similarities With Modern Mares
- 10 years ago
Scientists digging in Germany recently found a well-preserved, 47-million-year-old pregnant horse fossil, and say it shares a number of surprising similarities with modern day mares.
Species change and evolve over time, but there are some aspects of beings, be they big or small, that stay the same eon after eon.
Scientists digging in Germany’s Messel Pit in 2000 found a well-preserved, 47-million-year-old pregnant horse fossil. A recent study of the fossil reveals the number of similarities the tiny ancient species shares with modern day mares.
What proved helpful in this process of discovery was that the prehistoric animal skeleton was almost entirely intact.
It’s unclear exactly what caused her demise, but the events that took place afterwards are said to have provided ideal fossil-making conditions.
Paleontologists believe that she and her unborn foal sank deep into a body of water and became embedded in the sediment at its bottom.
The unique characteristics of the watery environment were the exact ones required to preserve details of the mare’s soft tissue composition. They helped record evidence of her fetus as well.
Among the foal-bearing details found were remnants of a crumpled uterine wall, a feature still present in horse reproduction.
Despite the fact that millions of years ago horses were only the size of fox terriers, scientists believe that they may have birthed their offspring in a way that’s similar to their present day ancestors.
Species change and evolve over time, but there are some aspects of beings, be they big or small, that stay the same eon after eon.
Scientists digging in Germany’s Messel Pit in 2000 found a well-preserved, 47-million-year-old pregnant horse fossil. A recent study of the fossil reveals the number of similarities the tiny ancient species shares with modern day mares.
What proved helpful in this process of discovery was that the prehistoric animal skeleton was almost entirely intact.
It’s unclear exactly what caused her demise, but the events that took place afterwards are said to have provided ideal fossil-making conditions.
Paleontologists believe that she and her unborn foal sank deep into a body of water and became embedded in the sediment at its bottom.
The unique characteristics of the watery environment were the exact ones required to preserve details of the mare’s soft tissue composition. They helped record evidence of her fetus as well.
Among the foal-bearing details found were remnants of a crumpled uterine wall, a feature still present in horse reproduction.
Despite the fact that millions of years ago horses were only the size of fox terriers, scientists believe that they may have birthed their offspring in a way that’s similar to their present day ancestors.