Tuesday Jan 22 06:45 AEDT
Specimens from an ancient platypus have revealed the Australian mammal is tens of millions of years older than previously thought.
A new analysis of jawbone specimens dug up at Flat Rocks, near Inverloch in Victoria, shows the platypus family dates back at least 112 million years, Fairfax reported.
Previous studies suggested the platypus diverged from the echidna between 17 and 80 million years ago.
High resolution scans of fossils from the creature, known as Teinolophos, showed that it had a large internal canal along its jaw.
Head of Science at the museum of Victoria Dr John Long said the similarity in jaws showed the Flat Rock fossils belonged to a member of the modern platypus family.
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