Dermotherium is a genus of fossil mammals closely related to the living colugos, a small group of gliding mammals from Southeast Asia. The two species are known from Thailand; D. major from the late Eocene, based on a fragment of the lower jaw, and D. chimaera from the late Oligocene from three jaw fragments and two molars. Another upper molar from the early Oligocene of Pakistan may be from a putative D. chimaera. The animals probably lived in forested environments, like living colugos, but whether they could glide is unknown. The fossil teeth differ from those of living colugo species (example pictured), and they lack their comblike dental features involving the lower incisors, canines, and third premolars. The fossil species differ from each other in their tooth structure. The front part of the lower chewing teeth, the trigonid, is broader in D. chimaera than in D. major.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermotherium

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1918:

The Council of Lithuania signed the Act of Independence, proclaiming the restoration of an independent Lithuania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Independence_of_Lithuania

1936:

The Popular Front, a coalition of left-wing parties, came to power in the Spanish general election, precipitating the Spanish Civil War five months later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Spanish_general_election

1961:

The DuSable Museum, the first museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art, was chartered. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DuSable_Museum_of_African_American_History

1996:

Eleven people died in a train collision in Silver Spring, Maryland, leading to the creation of comprehensive U.S. federal rules for the design of passenger cars. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Maryland_train_collision

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

deglutition: (physiology) The act or process of swallowing. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/deglutition

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Modern politics is, at bottom, a struggle not of men but of forces. The men become every year more and more creatures of force, massed about central power-houses. The conflict is no longer between the men, but between the motors that drive the men, and the men tend to succumb to their own motive forces.   --Henry Adams https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_Adams