Dinosaurs, flying mammals coexisted in China

PARIS - In dense Chinese forests populated by dinosaurs 160 million years ago, two furry critters resembling flying squirrels glided from tree to tree, showing that even in such a perilous neighborhood early mammals had succeeded in going airborne.

Scientists announced on Wednesday the discovery of fossils of two Jurassic Period gliding mammals so well-preserved and complete that they show the winglike skin membranes the creatures employed while gliding effortlessly between trees.

The two species, Maiopatagium furculiferum from Liaoning province and Vilevolodon diplomylos unearthed about 60 kilometers away in Hebei province, come from an extinct early mammalian side branch. One of the critters was about 23 centimeters from head to tail, and the other 8 cm without its tail, which was missing.