Pets

　　According to the British Daily Mail, Belgian scientists recently unearthed an ancient mammal fossil. According to relevant information, the discovered creature may have lived about 55 million years ago in a humid forest. This fossil mainly consists of ankle bones, approximately more than ten fragments. The species has been named "Dormaalocyon latouri," which is the name of the Belgian village where the fossil was discovered.
　　Scientists used a restoration image of the fossil to show that Dormaalocyon was an arboreal animal weighing about 10 kilograms, mainly feeding on smaller mammals and insects. It looked like a combination of a small jaguar and a squirrel. The restoration image shows that this species had a tail and a cat-like snout. Belgian paleontologist Floréal Soler discovered that many mammal species, such as cats and dogs, lions and bears, all share the same lineage with an arboreal mammal of unknown origin.
　　Through the analysis of nearly 14,000 teeth screened from the soil in the area where the fossil was found, a total of nearly 40 mammal species were discovered, including 280 new tooth samples from the same unknown new species.
　　The teeth unearthed appeared very primitive, indicating a very early origin. These facts suggest that this fossil is very close to the origin of carnivores and that this origin most likely occurred in Europe. From the discovered ankle bone fossil, Dormaalocyon is revealed to be an animal adapted to running in humid forests, which also matches the local historical natural environment.
　　Professor Soler said, "Dormaalocyon provides the greatest information on the evolution of placental mammals after the extinction of the dinosaurs, enabling scientists to propose the hypothesis that they likely diversified in the Late Paleocene." The study and understanding of Dormaalocyon are very important for reconstructing placental mammals' adaptation to a carnivorous diet. In other words, there are still more fossils to be discovered, thereby uncovering the origin of these major domesticated pets.