Bizarre teeth The fossil of the new species of mammal found in Towers Vedras
A new species of superior Jurassic mammal, with “bizarre teeth” and has been walking around the earth for about 100 million years, was discovered in Torres Vedras.
A new study, recently in the scientific journal Papers In Paleontologydescribes the discovery of a New species of mammal in Torres Vedras.
According to the investigators, the Cambelodon torreensis – as it was called – is a mammal of the Portuguese superior Jurassic that is believed to be believed to have walked by the land for about 100 million years.
The fossil was already discovered in 2022, in Cambelasin the municipality of Torres Vedras, in the Lisbon district, in an area “where there are at least three small dinosaurs,” the investigation advisor told Lusa, Lusa told Lusa Bruno Camilo.
The discovery, which came to bring information “about the evolution of primitive mammals, as well as about their diet and chewing mechanics”, was studied by Portuguese, Brazilian and Belgian researchers, in a job mostly developed by Victor Carvalho During the master’s dissertation in paleontology at.
Bruno Camilo praised the discovery, describing it as “Very rare”either by its location, almost in a kind of natural trap and the amount of bones, including teeth and the jaw of a Order mammal Multituberculata – An extinct group.
Bizarre teeth of survival
The species found belonged to the group of mammals that it will have achieved survive due to some particularities like “bizarre teeth”.
“They were very small animals, the size of a squirrel, quadruped,” said Bruno Camilo, adding that their dentition “seems to suggest that they would be omnivores, with a generalist diet.
“There is nothing vaguely similar to them today”refers Ricardo Araújoin a statement in which it wins that “the discovery of Cambelodon offers absolutely new data about the origin of this group.”
Extremely rare dental replacement
“Between current mammals and multipurchased mammals, the dental It is predominantly made from front to back (incisors first, then canine, premolars and, finally, molars). THE Cambelodon has an inverse tooth exchangei.e, backwards and non -sequentially”Explain the researchers.
This replacement is extremely rare: only two more specimens of multiturchased worldwide is known around the world, a species found in China, and another in Portugal, in the Guimarota mine, reads in the text.
Cambelodon was classified as a family member Pinheirodontidaea group of multitubricacles created almost 30 years ago based on fossils found in Portugal.
Since then, representatives of this family have also been identified in Spain, Germany and England, but all known only by isolated teeth.
