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Scientists find 74-million-year-old mammal fossil in Chile
RIO DE LAS LAS CHINAS VALLEY, MAGALLANES REGION, CHILE, AUG 12 – Yeutherium pressor, weighing about one ounce, is the smallest mammal found in South America from the dinosaur era, revealing insights into prehistoric ecosystems, scientists said.
- This month, researchers from the University of Chile and Chile's Millennium Nucleus research center published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B the discovery of a mammal fossil dating to about 74 million years ago in Río de las Chinas Valley, Chile.
- Dating to Gondwana’s era, researchers note that Yeutherium pressor lived in the Upper Cretaceous period about 66 million years ago, coinciding with its extinction.
- While resembling a rodent, the specimen, according to Hans Puschel, consists of a small jaw fragment with one molar and parts of two others, suggesting reproductive traits.
- A photograph obtained from Universidad de Chile on August 11, 2025 shows paleontologists working in the Río de las Chinas valley on February 17, 2024.
- Just like dinosaurs it co-existed with, the mammal from Chilean Patagonia lived about 74 million years ago, showing early mammal diversity in the region.
64 Articles
64 Articles
This discovery testifies for the first time to the existence of the "Yeutherium pressor", a small mammal capable of laying eggs and living 74 million years ago.
This fossil discovered in Patagonia testifies to the existence of the "Yeutherium pressor", a small mammal capable of laying eggs alive 74 million years ago.
Chile: Scientists find 74-million-year-old mammal fossil
SANTIAGO — Scientists have discovered the fossil of a tiny mouse-sized mammal that lived in the time of the dinosaurs in Chilean Patagonia. “Yeutherium pressor” weighed between 30 and 40 grams (about one ounce) and lived in the Upper Cretaceous period, about 74 million years ago. It is the smallest mammal ever found in this region of South America, dating back to the era when it was part of a continental land mass known as Gondwana. READ: Dramat…
The fossil of a mouse-like mammal that lived alongside dinosaurs some 74 million years ago has been discovered in Patagonia. The animal, named Yeutherium pressor, weighed only 30 to 40 grams and is the smallest mammal ever identified in this South American region.
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