Researchers have unearth a pile of clappers in Pakistan belonging to a unknown mammal that lived aroundAsian swampssome 48 million year ago . The creature , which was found to be a distant congenator of modern horses , tapirs and rhinoceroses , was long considered an ancestor of mod elephants and manatees , have in mind the find has result in a little re - jiggling of the mammalian family tree . The field of study has been published inPLOS ONE .
The fresh discovered fossils belong to to a household of ancient mammal called Anthracobunids . These land animals were only around a beat ( four understructure ) in length and look a small bit like directly - headed , hornless rhinoceros .
Although they were believed to be rude relatives of extant elephants and sea cow , the fossil phonograph recording of Anthracobunids was scarce and establish on uncomplete skeletal system . Furthermore , the idea that they were ancestors of these advanced - day animals was perplexing because elephant and manatees belong to a group of animals that originated in Africa , not Asia . investigator therefore struggled to paint a clear film of what these beast looked like and where they came from . Now , thanks to the newly observe fossil , scientists have revealed some significant characteristic that have provide a few more solution .
By analyze the form of the bones and theirstable isotope proportion , the researchers discovered that Anthracobunidae probably grazed on land but spent a lot of time around urine , much like modern rhino and tapir . “ Anthracobunids are just one of many lineages of vertebrates that evolve from terrestrial beast , but then left to live in a shallow water habitat and had dense bones , ” first author Dr. Lisa Cooper state in anews dismission . “ These thick os credibly act like ballast to neutralize physical structure buoyancy . you’re able to see that sort of bone complex body part in forward-looking Hippopotamus amphibius , otters , penguin and cormorants . ”
As mentioned , since the ancestors of elephants and manatees hold up in Africa , the South Asian distribution of Anthracobunids was difficult to excuse . However , after comparing these new fossil with feature of modern - 24-hour interval species , the research worker found it was much more likely that they were related toodd - toed ungulate , which is a group of brute that include tapirs and rhinoceros . This make much more sense since these fauna are thought to have evolved in Asia .
Given that the ancestors of Anthracobunids and modern elephants lived on separate continent , similarities in their coming into court are plausibly better explained byconvergent development . This is where distantly related animals evolve similar adaptations because they occupy similar environments .
[ ViaPublic Library of Science , PLOS ONEandNational Geographic ]
