Obituary for Morganucodon
Morgie, the First Mammal
By Katrina S. of t2 science
Morganucodon (Mor-gahn-uoo-coh-don)
These are immages of the Morganucodon rat...
Morganucodon eating insects
Morgie just chilling.
Watch out, it may have rabies!
Where Morgie was Found
Morgie, our common ancestor
The Morganucodon is the common ancestor of all mammals. From this one rat, all mammals in our world have evolved, even humans. That's right, she's the "mother of all mammals"
Morgie developed curtail features that helped distinguish her from the reptilians. These features benefitted her after the age of the dinosaurs when the age of mammals begun. They included external features such as a body covered in hair. But others like a more developed inner ear for sound sensitivity. Very early Morganucodons did not give live birth, they laid eggs, but later in the evolutionary process, they started carrying young in their bodies, and nourishing them through an umbilical chord. This provided more protection from predators and weather.
Skelatal system
Morgie's Skull
Fossil of Morgie
How pretty was Morgie?
This rat-like creature was about the size of a paper clip. (She must have been what, like a size 0.01shoe?) Morgie would have weighed about 1-3 ounces, or 27-89 grams. She was a mix of some reptilian features, such as her tooth structure and possibly laying eggs, but also some features that most mammals commonly share, such as skin covered in hair, or fur. What helped scientists classify this species as a mammal, was its skeletal bone structure. In reptiles, part of the jaw bones called the posterior bones, are part of the jaw. Now, in Morgie was the first time this bone was part of the inner ear. This change in bone structure mainly separates the reptilian bone structure from the mammalian skeletal bone structure, along with external features. This new jaw structure caused Morgie to have double jaw articulation.
Morgie had well adapted eyes because she was nocturnal. This enabled her to hunt for bugs, watch out for predators, or spy on aunt Phyllis, and see what toxic concoctions she was brewing up. She also a long pointy snout, and a rat-like or vole-like body shape. At the end of her body there was a short tail. Just like present day humans, Morgie had two sets of teeth in her life, and five toes on each limb. We got those genes from her because her DNA was passed along down the line, until we inherited it. So did all of the other mammals in the world. Morgie was the "mother of all mammals".
Meet Morgie's Family
This is Morgie's evil aunt Phyllis. Eww...
Its mogie's cousin! the Magazostrodon
The Human
A day in the life of Morgie
Life After Dinosaurs Video
Researchers reconstruct the Common ancestor of mammals video
A special thanks to
Works Cited
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