Early Mammals

Numerous small bones found within the Cretaceous rocks of southern Australia have been identified as the remains of mammals.  Species identified include several types of monotreme, egg-laying mammals related to today’s platypus and echidna, as well as the hard-to-classify 5cm-long shrew-like Bishops whitmorei. As with the flowering plants, these warm-blooded, furry animals collectively represent a new direction in the course of life’s evolution.