''Adalatherium'' (meaning "crazy beast") is an extinct

gondwanatherian Gondwanatheria is an extinct group of mammaliaforms that lived in parts of Gondwana, including Madagascar, India, South America, Africa and Antarctica during the Upper Cretaceous through the Paleogene (and possibly much earlier, if ''Allostaffia' ...

that lived on

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

period, during the

Maastrichtian The Maastrichtian () is, in the ICS geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic Era or Erathem. It spanned the interval from ...

. The discovery of the first nearly-complete ''Adalatherium'' skeleton from the

Maevarano Formation The Maevarano Formation is a Late Cretaceous sedimentary rock formation found in the Mahajanga Province of northwestern Madagascar. It is most likely Maastrichtian in age, and records a seasonal, semiarid environment with rivers that had greatly v ...

was announced in April 2020. While typical mammals found from that era were around the size of a mouse, the skeleton found — thought to merely be a juvenile — was 60 cm (2 ft) long. It is depicted in reconstructions as being built somewhat like a badger. Its skeleton is the most complete of any Southern Hemisphere Mesozoic mammal. Additionally, the front of the skull contains more

foramina In anatomy and osteology, a foramen (;Entry "foramen"
in

than any known mammal.This 'crazy beast' was a weird early mammal that lived among dinosaurs
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References

Gondwanatheres Late Cretaceous mammals Maastrichtian life Cretaceous Madagascar Fossils of Madagascar Maevarano fauna Fossil taxa described in 2020 Taxa named by David W. Krause Taxa named by Simone Hoffmann Taxa named by Yaoming Hu Taxa named by John R. Wible Taxa named by Guillermo W. Rougier Taxa named by E. Christopher Kirk Taxa named by Joseph R. Groenke Taxa named by Raymond R. Rogers Taxa named by James B. Rossie Taxa named by Julia A. Schultz Taxa named by Alistair R. Evans Taxa named by Wighart von Koenigswald Taxa named by Lydia J. Rahantarisoa {{cretaceous-mammal-stub