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Early rodents add evidence for Earth’s first grasslands (BBC)
By Nick Crumpton
BBC News
Two of the earliest rodents, including the earliest chinchilla, have been discovered in Chile.
The finds add weight to the suggestion that grasslands appeared in South America 15 million years before anywhere else on Earth, after a period of global cooling.
The rodents have been described from two fragmentary fossils of lower jaws.
Both lived near a volcanic chain 32.5 million years ago that was buried in volcanic debris.
The structure of the animals' cheek teeth have been interpreted as being adapted to a diet of plants found in open, dry environments.
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more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18989216
