Mongolian Flying Mammal Fossil Discovery :: MAXINE

The mammal fossil evidence discovery was made last year in Inner Mongolia (a region in north China). Farmers had found the delicate fossil, embedded in sandstone, and brought it to the attention of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing.

The discovery was written up in the most recent edition of the journal, Nature and was first thought to be a rodent in that the earliest recorded discoveries (30 million years ago) had been bats.

The fossil has been dated back to about 125 Million years ago and is now the first recorded evidence of mammalian (gliding) flight.