A newly identified fossil from the Early Cretaceous of China shows that a small mammal living about 125 million years ago possessed clear adaptations for a semi-aquatic lifestyle, making it the earliest confirmed swimming mammal discovered to date.
Dongoconodon platycauda, an extinct species of mammals, lived on the planet about 125 million years ago, reports the University of Nanjing Press Service, which had front and rear paws with pronounced lateral extensions, resembling the sprained paws of modern ducknos.