"Cute" Tropical Camels: Prehistoric Species Found in Panama

Two new species of "bizarre," tiny camels that browsed ancient rain forests have been found in Panama, a new study says.

Between 2008 and 2011, scientists unearthed tiny pieces of fossils in the Las Cascadas paleontological site.

Back in the lab, "I started putting everything together and realized, Oh wow, I have a nearly complete jaw," study leader Aldo Rincon, a graduate student in vertebrate paleontology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, said in a statement.

From the new fossils, Rincon and his team described two new prehistoric camel species: Aguascalietia panamaensis and Aguascalientia minuta, both of which roamed the Central American tropics about 20 million years ago.

Both animals had long, crocodile-like snouts, likely specialized for finding fruits and leaves in dense vegetation, he told National Geographic News. Also, their teeth were short and sharp, features common to animals that browse, not graze, for food, Rincon noted.

Based on the fossils, Rincon and colleagues estimate the tiniest of the two camels, A. minuta, stood about 2 feet (60 centimeters) tall, about the size of a modern-day musk deer. A. panamaensis was about 2.5 feet (80 centimeters) tall.

Source:National Geographic