300m-year-old lizard fossil discovered in Canada is earliest example of parental care

A prehistoric lizard has been unearthed in Canada with its tail wrapped around its offspring. The ancient discovery of the fossilised remains dates back to 309 million years ago. The new species has been named Dendromaia unamakiensis, Greek words for tree and caring mother. The name was given because of the position in which the fossil of the adult and juvenile was uncovered. The new species resembles today's monitor lizards.

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The earliest example of parental care

According to Hillary Maddin, a paleontologist at Carleton University in Ottawa, the lizard is more closely related to humans than it is to the dinosaurs. Maddin reasoned her argument by giving the example of the synapsid lineage that evolved into mammals from reptiles. Dendromaia had long jaws, sharp teeth, long tails, thin legs, and narrow bodies, they were highly agile as they dined on insects and other animals. 

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According to Maddin, the lizards were wiped out from the face of the earth about 250 million years ago. The cause of their extinction cited by Maddin is the volcanic eruption that took place in Siberia and caused the biggest extinction in history. Maddin said that the fossil of adult Dendromaia was probably about 20 centimetres long from the nose to the base of the tail.

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The discovery of the fossil is probably the earliest example of parental care in the animal kingdom and it shows the evolution of love. The previous earliest example was a fossil of synapsid Heleosaurus scholtzi and its young that was found in South Africa and is probably 270 million-year-old. The discovery of Dendromaia beats the record by almost 40 million years. 

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Recently, a British man named Jon Gopsill accidentally discovered a 65 million-year-old dinosaur skeleton on a beach in Somerset county while he was walking his dogs. According to reports, Gopsill's dogs found the five-and-a-half foot dinosaur fossil which came to their notice after being exposed by recent storms.