- Sinodelphys
Taxobox
name = "Sinodelphys"
fossil_range = EarlyCretaceous
domain = Eukaryota
image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Sinodelphys szalayi" fossil displayed in Hong Kong Science Museum.
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Mammal ia
subclassis =Theria
infraclassis =Metatheria
genus = "Sinodelphys"Sinodelphys or "Chinese opossum" is to date the oldest
marsupial fossil known, estimated to be 125 million years old. It was discovered around 2003 inLiaoning Province,China , by a team of scientists including John Wible and Zhe-Xi Luo. "Sinodelphys szalayi" grew only 15 centimeters long and possibly weighed about 30 grams. Its fossilized skeleton is surrounded by impressions of fur and soft tissue, thanks to the exceptional sediment that preserves such details. The limb structure of "Sinodelphys" shows this little marsupial was a tree-dweller, like its non-marsupial contemporary "Eomaia ". "Sinodelphys" probably hunted worms and insects. MostMesozoic marsupials have been found inNorth America ,South America , andAsia . Most lived during theLate Cretaceous between 90-65 million years ago.ee also
* "
Eomaia "
*Evolution of mammals
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