TWO NEW FOSSIL RODENTS DISCOVERED IN UTAH

A newly-published report describes the discovery of two new prehistoric rodents in Utah. The report also identifies two fossil rodents and a rabbit previously known from other states. All are from a site near Sevier in central Utah.

“In addition to identifying the new species, the findings are significant because until now, Utah has been a big hole in the Miocene map of western North America for fossil mammals,” said Don DeBlieux, report co-author and paleontologist with the Utah Geological Survey (UGS). “The uplift and erosion of the Colorado Plateau which makes Utah such a good place for finding dinosaur fossils means that younger rocks and fossils, such as those from the Miocene Epoch which lasted from 23 to five million years ago, have been washed way.”

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