Fruitafossor
Name: Fruitafossor
(Fruita digger).
Phonetic: Froo-tah-foss-sor.
Named By: Zhe-Xi Luo & John R. Wible
- 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Incertae
sedis.
Species: F. windscheffeli (type).
Diet: Insectivore.
Size: 15 centimetres long.
Known locations: USA, Morrison Formation,
Colorado, Fruita.
Time period: Kimmeridgian of the Jurassic.
Fossil representation: Almost complete specimen.
The
discovery
of Fruitafossor made many palaeontologists sit up
and pay attention,
because here was a digging mammal that existed one hundred million
years before the previously known Cenozoic ancestors of today’s
mammalian diggers. Although it appears that Fruitafossor
was not
related to any of today’s existing mammals, it employed its powerful
forearms, which have earned it the nickname 'Popeye' due to their
oversized resemblance to the cartoon characters forearm, to dig for
the termites that lived towards the end of the Jurassic. Not only
could Fruitafossor have used its forearms and claws
to break into
termite nests, it has also been suggested that it could dig itself
burrows for protection from hunters.
The
teeth of Fruitafossor are
sharp and lack enamel suggesting that they were lost and replaced as
they wore out. Animals that eat termites usually do not have to do
any chewing, so enamel is not required to protect the teeth for this
process. More importantly though, the same type of teeth are found
in mammals that primarily feed on termites today, indicating that
because Fruitafossor was not related to them, the
evolutionary
adaptations suited for eating termites happened more than once.
The
species name F.
windscheffeli is in honour of Wally Windscheffeli, a
Carnegie museum
volunteer who discovered the Fruitafosser remains.
Further reading
- A Late Jurassic digging mammal and early mammalian diversification. -
Science 308:103-107. - Z.-X. Luo & J. R. Wible - 2005.
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