The new research is the first to look back at early mammals in full color. Using advanced fossil imaging methods and a ...

Some ancient traits were lost and had a major influence on mammal evolution. One of the significant losses among mammal ancestors was gastralia, or belly ribs. Early synapsids like Ophiacodon had ...

The researchers extended their analysis to eight exemplary fossil species from four continents spanning 300 million years of evolution. The species ranged from the 35g proto-mammal Megazostrodon ...

Although they came into their own only after the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, mammals had maintained a low-profile existence for some 150 million years before that.

All living mammals today, including us, descend from the one line that survived. During the next 145 million years of evolution, the dominance of dinosaurs ensured that our distant mammalian ...