What is Juramaia?
{{italic title}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = [[Late Jurassic]], {{fossil_range|160.89|160.25}} | image = Juramaia NT.jpg | image_caption = Restoration | taxon = Juramaia | authority = Luo ''et al.'', [[2011 in paleontology|2011]] | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = *[[extinction|†]]'''''J. sinensis''''' <small> Luo ''et al.'', 2011 ([[type species|type]])</small> }} '''''Juramaia''''' is the earliest known [[eutherian mammal]]. It is a small [[shrew]]-like mammal of body length about 70{{ndash}}100 mm. It is an [[extinct]] [[genus]] from the [[Upper Jurassic]] deposits of western [[Liaoning#Paleontology|Liaoning]], [[China]].<ref>[http://esciencenews.com/sources/scientific.blogging/2011/08/24/juramaia.sinensis.160.million.year.old.fossil.pushes.back.mammal.evolution Juramaia sinensis - 160-million-year-old fossil pushes back mammal evolution]</ref> A nearly complete skeleton, with an incomplete [[skull]] with full [[dentition]] was found. It was collected in the Daxigou site, [[Jianchang]], from the [[Tiaojishan Formation]]. It is dated at about 160 million years ago.<ref name=Juramaia>{{cite journal |authors=Zhe-Xi Luo, Chong-Xi Yuan, Qing-Jin Meng and Qiang Ji |title=A Jurassic eutherian mammal and divergence of marsupials and placentals |journal=Nature |volume=476 |date=2011 |issue=7361 |pages=442–445 |url=http://211.144.68.84:9998/91keshi/Public/File/34/476-7361/pdf/nature10291.pdf |doi=10.1038/nature10291 |pmid=21866158 |bibcode=2011Natur.476..442L |s2cid=205225806 |access-date=2016-02-16 |archive-date=2013-11-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110134026/http://211.144.68.84:9998/91keshi/Public/File/34/476-7361/pdf/nature10291.pdf |url-status=dead }} [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v476/n7361/extref/nature10291-s1.pdf Electronic supplementary material]</ref> The discovery of ''Juramaia'' provides new insight into the [[evolution]] of eutherian mammals. It shows their lineage diverged from that of the marsupials 35 million years earlier than previously thought.<ref