New Fossil sheds light on the origin of lions, tigers, and bears

Connor Cates

Author: F. Sole, Science Daily
Publish Date: Jan 6, 2014

Summary
New Fossils found in Belgium have provided new information on the origins of carnivores. A species named Dormaalocyon latouri left newly discovered fossils that allow for a better understanding of the animal. The new specimen has over 250 teeth and ankle bones.The fossil found contains the deciduous, or baby, teeth of the animal. This lead to the implication that this species is close to the origin of carnavoraforms, and may be the first in Europe.
The increase in ankle bones suggests that this animal was a tree dweller. Plus, about 55 million years ago, this would also imply it lived in a more warm, humid climate. Although this species seems like possibly the origin, there were more primitive species in the group of an earlier time period. The author feels this fossil will help with the understanding of the evolution of placental mammals. All this leads to the fact that there are still more fossils to be discovered.

Relevance
This article relates to our study of evolution and fossil records. In class, we learned that fossils can provide useful information on the evolutionary path of different forms of life, and this article describes how a new fossil may lead to the discovery of the origins of carnivores and other mammals. This article also relates to our study of homologous and analogous structures in animals by touching upon the idea that these structures were the base of the later structures to form, leading to homologous structures in different branches in the evolutionary tree.

Link
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140106160029.htm