With body spry, tail curly,
This mammal showed up early.
Did Xianshou squeak?
If bones could speak …
These might say “I’m squirrely!”
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Further reading:
Chisel-toothed beasts push back origin of mammals, National Geographic
Three new Jurassic euharamiyidan species reinforce early divergence of mammals, Nature
This is one in a series of poems written by Katherine Allen, a researcher in geochemistry and paleoclimate at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences at Rutgers University.
