Juramaia sinensis

Juramaia is an extinct genus of a eutherian mammal from late Middle Jurassic deposits of western Liaoning, China. Its well-preserved fossil, unearthed in the fossil-rich region of Liaoning Province, is believed to be the oldest ever found of a group of eutherians, or placental animals that give birth to live offspring. As per a 2011 paper, Juramaia, from 160 million years ago, is either a ‘greatgrand-aunt’, or a ‘great-grandmother’ of all placental mammals that are thriving today. The researchers say that this fossil represents a new milestone in mammal evolution that was reached 35 million years earlier than previously thought, thus filling an important gap in the record of Mammalian Evolution.