Prehistoric Common Ancestor of Mammals, Including Humans, Revealed in Study
News 18A study, conducted by Maureen O'Leary, a paleontologist at Stony Brook University in New York, and her research team, concluded that the ancestor of all placental mammals evolved “less than 400,000 years after the mass extinctions that wiped out the dinosaurs.” The groundbreaking study's findings were published on September 26 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Placental mammals are commonly known as those that give birth and nourish their embryos throughout gestation via the placenta which is usually attached to the wall of the mother's uterus. The new study, conducted by O'Leary, used genetic information to “arrange the branches on the family tree of placental mammals”. She went on to explain that statistical methods that help researchers determine the length of those branches as well as their arrangement “will certainly shed more light on mammalian evolution.” Read all the Latest Buzz News and Breaking News here