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Great New Fossils From Germany
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24-08-2009 12:36pm#1You may remember the first episode of the BBC series Walking With Beasts which featured the giant bird Gastornis and the shrew like Leptictidium. Well, it was set some fifty million years ago in a place called the Messel Shales. It is probably the best fossil site in the world for that period of time.
A whole host of exciting new discoveries have been unearthed. You can read about them here.
Highlights include:
Masillamys, a type of rodent complete with fossilised fur:
A strange hoofed mammal called Kopidodon macrognathus:
A type of lizard, possibly the ancestor of modern gila monsters:
Friccomelissa schopowi, a type of ancient bee:
A very well preserved Leptictidium, complete with some fur:
A beautifully preserved jewel beetle:
and an ant queen:
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