65-million-year-old mammal discovered in Colorado Springs area

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Researchers from the Denver Museum of Nature & Science announced Friday that fossils of a newly-discovered mammal that lived tens of millions of years ago were found right here in the Colorado Springs area.

The discovery was made in the Coral Bluffs area, between Highways 24 and 94. Researcher say the species, named Militocodon lydae, is part of a group that gave rise to all modern hoofed animals, including deer, cows and pigs.

Museum representatives said the animal's fossilized skull and jaws were uncovered from rocks in Coral Bluffs dating back to just after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Researchers said the mammal was roughly the size of a chinchilla and helps provide clues about the diversification of mammals following the dinosaurs' extinction.

"Rocks from this interval of time have a notoriously poor fossil record and the discovery and description of a fossil mammal skull is an important step forward in documenting the earliest diversification of mammals after Earth's last mass extinction," Dr. Tyler Lyson, Museum Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, said.

According to the researchers, the mammal was named Militocodon lydae in honor of two "extraordinary contributors" to the Corral Bluffs project: volunteer and retired Colorado Springs teacher Sharon Milito and Museum supporter and champion of Colorado Springs Lyda Hill.

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