Until the end of the 20th century, ancient mammals were known only through fragments of teeth but Jurassic deposits in Liaoning, China finally delivered remarkably wellpreserved complete fossils: Eomaia scansoria (2002), the ancestor of placental mammals, Repenomamus giganticus (2005) the size of a dog and Volaticotherium antiquus (2006), a kind of flying squirrel. By using innovative technology such as 3D scanners scientists are able to trace the origins of their evolutionary advantages: lactation, hair, teeth and hearing. But despite these discoveries, the scientific community continued to argue over the family tree of our Mesozoic ancestors. For ten years, the debate raged between two opposing teams in the pages of the scientific publication, Nature. To understand our origins one crucial question remained unanswered: when did the nowdominant placental mammals separate from marsupials? Then in 2011, Juramaia sinensis meaning “Jurassic Mother from China” was discovered. This fossil pushed our family tree back another 35 million years, proving that our ancestors were around almost 160 million years ago…



Documentary: A New Prehistory EP:3 The Dawn Of Mammals (2016)
Directed by: Emma Baus & Bertrand Loyer
Production: Saint Thomas

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