Named, Juramaia sinensis, or the Jurassic mother from China, the
fossil of the small shrew-like animal was unearthed in China's
northeast Liaoning Province, which has produced many amazing
fossils in recent years. Zhe-XI-Luo, a paleontologist at the
Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh and his
colleagues discovered the 160-million-year-old- fossil. Until
this amazing find, the oldest ancestor to today's mammals was
the dawn mother Eomaia- a 125-million year-old rat found in
China. 'Jurassic Mother' Replaces 'Dawn Mother' as Mankind’s
Oldest Relative. Credit: Mark A. Klinger, Carnegie Museum of
Natural History Because it lived 160 million years ago, and
nobody was there to sign the birth certificate of its
descendants, Juramaia could be our great grandmother 160 million
years removed or it could also be our great grand aunt that
represents a relative on the side lines, lead author Zhe-Xi Luo
told Discovery News. The 160-million-year-old specimen has
features that enabled scientists to place it amon