Ancient ‘Crazy Beast’ With Mismatched Body and Teeth From ‘Outer Space’ Discovered, Puzzles Scientists
Madagascar's present and past continue to intrigue people with its distinctiveness. The species found at this place stand apart in a multitude of ways. The remnants of an ancient creature from this place stunned experts with its unique features, stated Live Science. Findings regarding this creature were published in the journal Nature.
The remnants were uncovered in 1999 from northwestern Madagascar and belonged to Adalatherium hui. A. hui was a mammal that belonged to the now-extinct group Gondwanatherian. Before the discovery, experts had never uncovered such an exceptionally preserved specimen of this group.
Researchers were astounded by the mammal's features. Its dentition appeared to be from 'outer space' to David Krause, the senior curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Their tooth pattern did not match with any living or extinct mammal. The manner in which they are arranged is unlike anything researchers have come across worldwide. Researchers noted that A. Hui's incisors were prominent, and the enamel was present only on the cheek portion. From these features, Kraus speculated that the creature was a herbivore.
Examinations revealed that the fossils dated back 72 to 66 million years, sometime at the end of the Cretaceous period. This makes it the oldest specimen ever uncovered of a Gondwanatherian creature. The discovery happened accidentally, as experts were actually trying to unearth a nearby crocodile skeleton. "We recovered a skeleton not knowing we had a mammal beside it," shared Raymond Rogers, professor and chair of geology at Macalester College in Minnesota. The remains were investigated in 2020, stated CNN.
The analysis provided a lot of insights into this creature, which did not align with what researchers knew about mammal evolution. "Knowing what we know about the skeletal anatomy of all living and extinct mammals, it is difficult to imagine that a mammal like Adalatherium could have evolved; it bends and even breaks a lot of rules," Krause shared. There were many holes on A. Hui's face, much more than the researchers had detected previously in any mammal. These holes, known as foramina, were deemed as pathways for blood vessels and nerves. There was also a huge hole on top of the animal's snout, which was unlike anything experts had seen in the past.
The forearms and shoulders were under the creature's body like a dog's, which is unusual for mammals at that period. Mammals from the Cretaceous period typically walked like reptiles, which did not seem to be the case for A. hui, as implied by its forearms and shoulders. However, further examinations showcase that the creature's hind legs were similar to reptiles. This made the question of this creature's walking style a mystery for experts. "Adalatherium is the oddest of oddballs," said Simone Hoffmann, study co-author and assistant professor at the New York Institute of Technology’s department of anatomy. "Trying to figure out how it moved is nearly impossible because, for instance, its front end is telling us a different story than its back end."
A. hui, like many Madagascar creatures, possibly vanished from the world 66 million years ago due to an asteroid impact. Such fossils provide insights into mammals that existed before the ones that inhabited the world after the asteroid. "Madagascar is a pretty weird place," Krause said. "Plants and animals there are not known anywhere else in the world. Evolution on islands leads to that in some sense."