PALEONTOLOGY: Fossilized Skull Of Half Mammal, Half Reptile May Rewrite History.

The discovery of the fossilized skull of a half-mammal and half-reptile creature may rewrite ancient history, specifically regarding the timeline for the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea.

The important find follows a similar one earlier this year of a dinosaur fossil in Egypt, which also provided scientists with more clues regarding the Pangaea split.

The fossilized skull of the reptile-like mammal was unearthed in a rock from the Cretaceous period, from about 145 million to 65 million years ago. The skull itself was 130 million years old, a finding that goes against previous theories on when the supercontinent Pangaea broke up.

The discovery of the fossil likely means that the Pangaea split likely happened more recently than scientists thought. The finding also suggests that a group of reptile-like mammals bridging the transition between reptiles and mammals saw a “burst of evolution” in several continents.

The science is never settled, but it is often fascinating.