Earliest known mammal fossil discovered in China

The shrew-like fossil is the earliest known example of an placental animal. 

Its features clearly set it apart from marsupial mammals, which use a different reproductive strategy. Some scientists blevie marsupials are better suited for drought environments than mammals. 

The discovery is described in a paper written by a team of palaeontologists led by Zhe-Xi Luo from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, US.

The new fossil, Juramaia sinensis, includes its skull and even impressions of soft tissues such as hair.The Juramaia fossil also displays a full set of teeth and forepaw bones.


Consdering that life evolved on earth about 3.5 billion years ago, the rise of mammals is an eye blink in the eath's history. Primates are thought to have evolved from tree shrews and the forepaws of Juramaia indicate this creature was adept at climbing to hunt insects. 

The first simians arose about 20 million years ago. Many creationists suggest that humans evolved spontaneously, but the evolutionary process in lengthy and major evolutionary changes take about  million years according to another Science Daily article. 

The forebear of modern humans, chimpanzees and apes is believed to have roamed the earth  about 8 million years ago. 

Creationists suggest an intelligent designer happened by and created the world and all living things about 6,000 years ago in six days. This theory is not supported by science and is implausible . 

Let's call a spade a spade. Creation science and intelligent design is Christian fantasy. It's not worth debating. 

Of course, God is not very useful at all if he did not create man. Could God have created the universe? 

Stephan Hawking said: 

Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist.”

It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going.

Of course, sceintists really do not understand the basis of gravity. This weak force that pervades the universe is still a mystery. 

Yet science admits to its shortcomings, a humility that is lacking in religion. 

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sources: 


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/7976594/Stephen-Hawking-God-was-not-needed-to-create-the-Universe.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14651218

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