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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

New fossils intensify mystery of short-lived, toothy mammal found in ancient North Pacific

New fossils from the Aleutian Islands intensify the mystery surrounding a toothy, hippopotamus-sized mammal unique to the North Pacific. The oddball creature suction-fed shoreline vegetation, say paleontologists. The Unalaska Island animal is a new genus and species of Desmostylia. The only major order of marine mammals to go wholly extinct, Desmostylia survived a geologic blink -- only 23 million years, from 33 million to 10 million years ago.

from Strange & Offbeat News -- ScienceDaily http://ift.tt/1Z7n2DG
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