http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammal
It has been suggested that the original function of lactation (milk production) was to keep eggs moist. Much of the argument is based on monotremes, the egg-laying mammals.
The earliest clear evidence of hair or fur is in fossils of Castorocauda, from 164 million years ago in the Middle Jurassic. In the 1950s, it was suggested that the foramina (passages) in the maxillae and premaxillae (bones in the front of the upper jaw) of cynodonts were channels which supplied blood vessels and nerves to vibrissae (whiskers) and so were evidence of hair or fur;it was soon pointed out, however, that foramina do not necessarily show that an animal had vibrissae, as the modern lizard Tupinambis has foramina which are almost identical to those found in the nonmammalian cynodont Thrinaxodon.Popular sources, nevertheless, continue to attribute whiskers to Thrinaxodon.
It has been suggested that the original function of lactation (milk production) was to keep eggs moist. Much of the argument is based on monotremes, the egg-laying mammals.
The earliest clear evidence of hair or fur is in fossils of Castorocauda, from 164 million years ago in the Middle Jurassic. In the 1950s, it was suggested that the foramina (passages) in the maxillae and premaxillae (bones in the front of the upper jaw) of cynodonts were channels which supplied blood vessels and nerves to vibrissae (whiskers) and so were evidence of hair or fur;it was soon pointed out, however, that foramina do not necessarily show that an animal had vibrissae, as the modern lizard Tupinambis has foramina which are almost identical to those found in the nonmammalian cynodont Thrinaxodon.Popular sources, nevertheless, continue to attribute whiskers to Thrinaxodon.
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