It was at least 70 million years earlier than ever thought, the mammals used to fly! It was therefore, sometimes at about the same time - or even earlier than birds that they took to the skies! This is suggested by a fossil uncovered in China, the journal Nature reports.
But, it is no flying dinosaur as been found these days. The pre-historic fossilized squirrel-sized animal was very unusual and belonged to a new order of mammals. According to the scientists, the creature lived at least 125 million years ago.
For being able to glide through the air, the mammal used a fur-covered skin membrane! Named Volaticotherium antiquus - meaning ‘ancient gliding beast’ the creature belonged to ancestral line, which is now extinct and was not related to modern day flying mammals like bats or flying marsupials, the US-Chinese team said.
