By Helen Briggs BBC News
7 November 2017
Fossils of the oldest-known ancestors of most
living mammals, including human beings, have been unearthed in southern
England.
Teeth belonging to the extinct shrew-like
creatures, which scampered at the feet of dinosaurs, were discovered in cliffs
on the Dorset coast.
Scientists who identified the specimens say
they are the earliest undisputed fossils of mammals belonging to the line that
led to humans.
They date back 145 million years.
''Here we have discovered from the Jurassic
coast a couple of shrew-like things that are to date unequivocally our earliest
ancestors,'' said Dr Steve Sweetman of Portsmouth University, who examined the
ancient teeth.
The mammals were tiny, furry creatures that
probably emerged under the cover of night.
One, a possible burrower, dined on insects,
while the larger may have eaten plants as well.
Their teeth were highly advanced, of a type
that can pierce, cut and crush food.
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