Tunisian dinosaur age mammal tracks discovery

This June 2016 video is called Mammals began their takeover long before the death of the dinosaurs.

Another video from the USA used to say about itself:

During Demise Of Dinosaurs, Early Mammals Had Reason To Smile

Although humans never walked with dinosaurs, some of our earliest ancestors seem to have done so. Dr. Gregory P. Wilson, an Adjunct Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and Assistant Professor of Biology at the Burke Museum of the University of Washington, is the lead author of a study that was published in Nature, titled Adaptive Radiation of Multituberculate Mammals Before the Extinction of Dinosaurs. Wilson’s findings challenge a long-held notion that the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) extinction event was the launchpad for mammalian evolution into a diverse and proliferative group.

From Cretaceous Research:

First report of mammal-like tracks from the Cretaceous of North Africa (Tunisia)

Michela Contessi

Abstract

This paper describes Cretaceous mammal-like tracks from southern Tunisia. The tracks, referred to the Cenomanian Kerker Member of the Zebbag Formation, are the first mammal-like footprints reported from the Cretaceous of North Africa. The good preservation of the two tracks and their distinctive morphology support their attribution to a mammalian trackmaker, although the limited available data prevents attribution to a specific ichnotaxon. Morphologically, the Tunisian tracks resemble those of modern Mustelidae, however, based on mammalian faunas in the Cretaceous of Africa, they probably have affinity with members of Multituberculate family. Theropod dinosaur and bird tracks occur on the same track-bearing layer. The sediments are interpreted as an arid tidal flat environment, suggesting that African mammals might have shared their environment with a diverse fauna of larger animals.

Highlights

► Two mammal-like tracks from the Cenomanian of North Africa are described here. ► Footprints described here represent the oldest evidence of mammals in Tunisia. ► Available data suggest affinities of the trackmaker with a multituberculate mammal.

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