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''Eomaia'' ("dawn mother") is a genus of extinct fossil mammals containing the single species ''Eomaia scansoria'', discovered in rocks that were found in the Yixian Formation, Liaoning Province, China, and dated to the Barremian Age of the Lower Cretaceous about . The single fossil specimen of this species is in length and virtually complete. An estimate of the body weight is between . It is exceptionally well-preserved for a 125-million-year-old specimen. Although the fossil's skull is squashed flat, its teeth, tiny foot bones, cartilages and even its fur are visible.〔 ==Description== The ''Eomaia'' fossil shows clear traces of hair.〔 However, this is not the earliest clear evidence of hair in the mammalian lineage, as fossils of ''Volaticotherium'', and the docodont ''Castorocauda'', discovered in rocks dated to about , also have traces of fur. ''Eomaia scansoria'' possessed several features in common with placental mammals that distinguish them from metatherians, the group that includes modern marsupials. These include an enlarged malleolus ("little hammer") at the bottom of the tibia (the larger of the two shin bones),〔 a joint between the first metatarsal bone and the entocuneiform bone in the foot which is offset further back than the joint between the second metatarsal and mesocuneiform bones (in metatherians these joints are level with each other),〔 as well as various features of jaws and teeth.〔 However, ''E. scansoria'' is not a true placental mammal as it lacks some features that are specific to placentals. These include the presence of a malleolus at the bottom of the fibula, the smaller of the two shin bones,〔 a complete mortise and tenon upper ankle joint, where the rearmost bones of the foot fit into a socket formed by the ends of the tibia and fibula,〔 and an atypical ancestral eutherian dental formula, 5.1.5.3/4.1.5.3 (incisors, canines, premolars, molars on each side of the top and bottom jaws respectively). ''Eomaia'' had five upper and four lower incisors (much more typical for metatherians) and five premolars to three molars.〔 Placental mammals have only up to three incisors on each top and bottom and four premolars to three molars, but the premolar/molar proportion is similar to placentals. ''Eomaia'', like other early mammals and living marsupials, had a narrow pelvic outlet suggesting small undeveloped neonates requiring extensive nurturing. Epipubic bones extend forwards from the pelvis;〔 these are not found in any placental, but are found in all other mammals, including non-placental eutherians, marsupials, monotremes and other Mesozoic mammals as well as in the cynodont therapsids that are closest to mammals. Their function is to stiffen the body during locomotion. This stiffening would be harmful in pregnant placentals, whose abdomens need to expand. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Eomaia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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