Yikes, that thing is ugly.
And apparently crazy.
Researchers have uncovered the fossil of an early mammal named the "crazy beast" that lived 66 million years ago* on Madagascar, and it's unlike any mammal ever known, living or extinct.
This mammal, about the size of an opossum, had a mix of strange characteristics that haven't been seen together before. It highlights evolutionary strangeness that can arise from evolution when it occurs in isolation on islands like Madagascar, which is home to other species, living and extinct, found nowhere else in the world.
The researchers named it Adalatherium hui, a hybrid name that combines the Malagasy word for "crazy" and the Greek word for "beast." Hui is a nod to the late Yaoming Hu, a study co-author at Stony Brook University.
They believe this particular creature was a juvenile, weighing around seven pounds. But compared to the other Gondwana mammals living at the time, which were the size of mice, it was quite large. And it lived among dinosaurs and ancient crocodiles before the asteroid impact wiped them all out 66 million years ago* at the end of the Cretaceous period.
(* wrong)
Read more about crazy beast:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/29/world/crazy-beast-ancient-mammal-scn/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52465584
Every time something cool is found deep in the Earth, I am amazed. To think that God Almighty designed/created every single one of these things -- including "crazy beast" -- is such an awesome deal.
Grace & Peace & Love to you all -
Matt