New Study Sheds Light on Mammals' Early Evolution
There are two important morphological and functional changes in the evolution from reptiles to mammals, one is the transformation of teeth from simple to complex to improve feeding capacity, the other is the transformation of the mandibular skull joint into middle ear ossicular combination to improve auditory effectiveness, the journal Nature reported.
An international research team led by the IVPP studied Jurassic mammal fossils from north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and southwest China's Yunnan Province, had revealed the earliest evolution of tooth, middle ear and jaw joint in mammals.
The study provides a complete chain of evidence for the evolution of the mammalian middle ear, a world puzzle, said Mao Fangyuan with the IVPP.
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