Fifty million years ago, horses were certainly not the tall and regal animals they are today. In fact, they were about the size of your average pig, and boasted three or four thick nailed-toes, not hooves to boot! Now, a well-preserved fossil of an ancient pregnant mare is helping paleontologists learn more about what traits of ancient horses still persist in the animals today. Fifty million years ago, horses were certainly not the tall and regal animals they are today. In fact, they were about the size of your average pig, and boasted three or four thick-nailed toes, not hooves to boot! Now, a well-preserved fossil of an ancient pregnant mare is helping paleontologists learn more about what traits of ancient horses still persist in the animals today. The ancient mare in question (Eurohippus messelensis) was reportedly found in Germany's renowned Messel Pit fossil site back in 2000. It was estimated to be about 46 million years old. However, it wasn't until 2009 that Jens Lorenz Franzen, a researcher at the Senckenberg Research Institute, and his colleagues studied the specimen with a micro X-ray to look for details that might tell experts more about the once-tiny animals. Franzen revealed his findings last week at the 2014 annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Berlin. According to the researcher and his team, they found out they were not only looking at a complete mare skeleton, but one coupled with an immaculately preserved and intact fetus. Read more http://www.natureworldnews.com/arti...-toed-horse-reveals-secrets-ancient-mares.htm
