Lizard-Like Fossil May Represent 306-Million-Year-Old Evidence of Animal Parenting


Dec 23, 2019

The first fossil was so stunning that Brian Hebert nearly missed the second.

Tucked into the stump of a 300-million-year-old tree was a neat line of vertebrae, sprouting a series of delicate, wispy ribs. A smattering of belly scales freckled the space below, paving a path to a pelvis and a pair of petite thigh bones. These were the first known remains of Dendromaia unamakiensis, an early land-dwelling vertebrate that likely resembled a foot-long monitor lizard.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...are-180973833/