Image courtesy of Professor Julien Benoit.
Joel Kontinen
Evolutionists think that mass extinctions killed most of the animals before the giant
universal deluge that took place at the time of Noah.
Using
synchrotron X-ray CT scans of a fossilized, intact embryo, researchers found
evidence that the plant-eating mammal Lystrosaurus laid eggs, which answers a
key question about mammalian evolution. Scientists have cracked a major
mystery about mammal evolution after discovering a 250 million-year-old
fossilized egg from before the time of the dinosaurs. Researchers say the
specimen, which holds a curled-up embryo of the plant-eating animal Lystrosaurus, is the first known egg ever found
from a mammal ancestor, proving that mammals' ancestors laid eggs.
The egg
could help paleontologists better understand how these animals survived the
Permian-Triassic extinction, also known as the Great Dying, which occurred around 252 million
years ago. During this event, Earth faced brutal heat, drought, volcanic
eruptions and ocean acidification, and 90% of Earth's species died.
"It
reveals how reproductive strategies can shape survival in extreme environments:
by producing large, yolk-rich eggs and precocial young, Lystrosaurus was able
to thrive in the harsh, unpredictable conditions following the end-Permian mass
extinction," Julien Benoit, a paleontologist and associate
professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa's Evolutionary
Studies Institute, said in a statement.
Source:
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry 2026 Strange mammal ancestor laid huge, leathery eggs — and it was key to surviving the world's worst mass extinction | Live Science April 15
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