Jurassic predator Megacauda sungei had a mammal-like soft palate

Paleontologists described Megacauda sungei, a 165-million-year-old predatory mammaliaform from Inner Mongolia. About 50 cm long and 2 kg, it lived in water and already had a soft palate separating mouth from pharynx, enabling breathing while swallowing. The findings appear in Nature.

• Fossil is 165 million years old, about 50 cm long and 2 kg
• Soft palate allowed swallowing and breathing at the same time
• Earliest evidence of an aquatic lifestyle in mammaliaforms
• Species belongs to docodonts, found in Xiayingzi, Inner Mongolia