Argentinian cone The government science agency reports the find, presenting the remains of South America’s first mammal. This discovery also means that once upon a time these animals were also distributed more widely, plus their distinctive anatomical features had already evolved by this time. The find is almost from the city of El Calafate. They find it at 30 kilometers, and it is practically a tooth of half a centimeter. Based on the particular structure of the teeth, it was easy to determine that they once belonged to a platypus mammal: two short V-shaped structures unique to these animals can be seen, just like the Australian platypus mammals living today.
The only half-centimeter long tooth that betrayed the Patagonian platypus.
Source: CONICET
the Communication biology According to a discovery published in the journal, the animal lived about 70 million years ago, and Patagorhyncus pascuali Its importance also lies in drawing attention to the position of this region of South America in the evolution of mammals.
In Argentina, the remains of platypuses of a later age were already found in the 1990s, but the new discovery shows that egg-laying mammals appeared on the continent much earlier. This also fits with the picture according to which the fauna of Australia, Antarctica, and South America at this age still consisted of roughly the same animals (both mammals and primitive reptiles).
Reconstruction of Patagorhynchus’ head, including the existing tooth (black).
Source: CONICET
The special “tube” of duck-billed mammals can practically be compared to the nose of other mammals, but it primarily detects electrical signals. This is how they notice the worms, caterpillars and snails that are their food. Interestingly, in the same rock layer is the Chorillo Formation, from which it was launched Batagorhinx Remains were found, and we also found the remains of animals that modern platypuses feed on. This allowed us to reconstruct the ecosystem of contemporary lakes that existed at the time of the dinosaurs,” explained Fernando Novas, one of the research participants.
Animal Patagorhyncus pascuali The explorers invented its name from the name of Patagonia, as well as from the name of the Argentine paleontologist Rosendo Pascual, a platypus explorer who lived in this region at a later time.
