Oldest fossil marsupial found in China

The furry mouse-sized creature, named Sinodelphys szalayi, would have climbed trees, they report in this week's issue of the journal Science.

The fossil is 50 million years older than the oldest known marsupial fossil to date and the finding sheds light on when marsupials diverged from placental mammals -- which include humans, cats and dogs.

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Marsupials -- the group that includes opossums, kangaroos and koalas -- give birth to very tiny young that develop in a pouch. Placental mammals give birth later, protecting their young inside the womb.

There are also differences in bone structure, reports Zhe-Xi Luo of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and colleagues there and at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.