Volaticotherium antiquum

Taxobox
name = "Volaticotherium antiquum"
status = fossil
fossil_range = Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous

---

image_width = 250px
image_caption = Life restoration of "Volaticotherium antiquum"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Volaticotheria
ordo_authority = Meng "et al.", 2006
familia = Volaticotheriidae
genus = "Volaticotherium"
species = "V. antiquum"
binomial = "Volaticotherium antiquum"
binomial_authority = Meng "et al.", 2006

"Volaticotherium antiquum" was an ancient gliding mammal not closely related to any other mammalian group currently known. It had a gliding membrane similar to a modern-day flying squirrel. The teeth of "Volaticotherium" were highly specialized for eating insects, and its limbs were adapted to living in trees. The gliding membrane (patagium) was insulated by a thick covering of fur, and was supported by the limbs as well as the tail. The discovery of "Volaticotherium" provided the earliest-known record of a gliding mammal (70 million years older than the next oldest example), [cite web | title = Wild Things: Life As We Know It | author=Smithsonian Magazine | publisher= "Smithsonian Magazine"| date=2007 | url= http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/wild_things_feb07.html | accessdate=2008-02-22] and provided further evidence of mammalian diversity during the Mesozoic Era.

"Volaticotherium" fossils were recovered from the Daohugou Beds of Ningcheng County, Inner Mongolia, China. The age of the Daohugou Beds is currently uncertain and the subject of debate — they appear to be either preceding or around the Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous boundary (c. 140-120 mya).Wang, X., Zhou, Z., He, H., Jin, F., Wang, Y., Zhang, J., Wang, Y., Xu, X. & Zhang, F. (2005). "Stratigraphy and age of the Daohugou Bed in Ningcheng, Inner Mongolia." "Chinese Science Bulletin", 50(20): 2369-2376.] The description was published in an issue of the journal "Nature".cite journal | author=Meng, J., Hu, Y., Wang, Y., Wang, X., Li, C. | date=Dec 2006 | title=A Mesozoic gliding mammal from northeastern China | journal=Nature | volume=444 | issue=7121 | pages=889–893 | url=http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7121/abs/nature05234.html | doi=10.1038/nature05234 ]

References

*Meng, J., Y.-M. Hu, Y.-Q. Wang, X.-L. Wang, and C.-K. Li. 2007. Corrigendum: A Mesozoic gliding mammal from northeastern China. Nature 446:102.

External links

* [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7121/index.html Online article from "Nature", with illustration]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6176061.stm BBC News: Earliest flying mammal discovered]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/14/science/14mammal.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin NY Times: Early Mammals Took to the Air, Fossil Suggests]
* [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061213/ap_on_sc/gliding_mammal
]