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Mammalian evolution

Upwards and onwards

A newly described fossil sits on one of the lowest branches of the placental-mammal family tree. But its paws and claws suggest that, where actual vegetation was concerned, it could climb further than its contemporaries.

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Figure 1: Half of the fossil of Eomaia scansoria1, which is preserved on two facing slabs of rock from China's Yixian Formation.

CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

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Correspondence to Anne Weil.

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Weil, A. Upwards and onwards. Nature 416, 798–799 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/416798a

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