New Fossil Discovery

[Anchor Lead]

The fossil of a hopping mammal from the Cretaceous Period has been found in Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do Province. It's a first of its kind discovery worldwide. Let’s find out more.

[Pkg]

This layer of rock comes from the Jinju Formation stratum, which dates back some 110 million years. The footprints suggest a rather small sized animal jumped nine steps using two hind legs. The width of the gait is believed to be 4 centimeters and the animal likely weighs around 300 grams. The stride and the foot length are similar to those of a kangaroo rat. It's the first time in the world for a fossil to be found belonging to a hopping mammal originating from the Cretaceous Period which is the last segment of the Mesozoic Era.

[Soundbite] Lim Jong-deok(Nat'l Research Institute of Cultural Heritage) : "It's the first-ever fossil evidence showing a hopping mammal lived in the Cretaceous Period. It also indicates a variety of vertebrates existed in Korea."

This fossil was discovered in January last year in Jinju by a research team at Chinju National University of Education. Korean, American and Chinese researchers jointly took part in its analysis.

[Soundbite] Prof. Kim Gyeong-su(Chinju Nat'l University of Education) : "The site where the fossil was found was the edge of a lake 110 million years ago. This explains the evidence of many living organisms that inhabited the waterside area."

The fossil has been named "Koreasaltipes Jinjuensis," after the area in which it was found. It will be unveiled to the public at the National Heritage Center in Daejeon in the latter half of next year.