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Evo in the news: The evidence lines up in early mammal evolution


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This news brief, from September 2011, describes the discovery of a new mammal species that highlights just how long mammals have been around. Back in the Jurassic, dinosaurs may have dominated terrestrial ecosystems, but they were not alone. Scurrying around their feet and clinging to the trees above them were the fuzzy ancestors of their successors.

UC Museum of Paleontology

Grade level:

15 minutes

Teaching tips:


  • Biological evolution accounts for diversity over long periods of time.


  • The fossil record provides evidence for evolution.

  • The fossil record documents the biodiversity of the past.

  • The fossil record contains organisms with transitional features.


  • Scientists may explore many different hypotheses to explain their observations.



Teacher background:

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