Fossil of Horse-like Creature Contains Fetus
Posted on October 9, 2015
Scientists have found the 48-million-year-old fossil of an ancient horse-like creature that contains a fetus. The equoid fossil belongs to the species Eurohippus messelensis. The researchers say the fetus is the earliest and best-preserved fossil specimen of its kind.
The fossil was discovered at the Messel Pite site near Frankfurt, Germany in 2000. The New York Times reports that the mare is believed to have died just before she would have given birth.
Jens Lorenz Franzen, an author of the study and a retired paleontologist from the Senckenberg Museum in Frankfurt, tells the Times that the mare may have wandered too close to a volcanic crater where high levels of carbon dioxide were present.
Dr. Franzen says, "Maybe she came to the lakeshore to drink, lost consciousness, fell into the water and floated to the place where she was discovered."
A research paper on the well preserved equoid fetus fossil was published here in the journal, PLoS One. The fossil was examined using high-resolution micro-x-ray and scanning electronic microscopy for the study. The scientists say the degree of preservation of soft tissues - including internal organs and gut contents - in the fossilized specimen is remarkable.