National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Photo: Fossil Mammal Resembling Dog-Hare Hybrid Found in Bolivia


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

Distinct back molars bearing three lobes instead of two spurred researchers to more closely examine a fossil jawbone (top) that had been stored in a Bolivian museum. The remains, the scientists discovered, are from a new species of notoungulate, or southern hoofed mammal.

A sketch of a similar notoungulate's reconstructed skeleton (bottom) shows the approximate size of the new creature, which resembles a cross between a dog and a hare.

Images courtesy Darin A. Croft