Early Mammals of China coloring pages

Readers, this is a reposting of this very post.  

What follows, if you scroll down, is the post in multiple languages.  

Repenomamus the Mammal that ate Dinosaurs

(It ate baby dinosaurs.)

Volaticotherium the first flying Mammal

 Zhangheotherium the Mammal with a Poisonous Spur


Early Mammals from China coloring pages

The first drawing is of an unusually large mammal for the dinosaur era.  Repenomamus was one of the earliest mammals.  It lived in what is now China.  It lived in the early  Cretaceous Period around 125 million years ago.  Repenomamus was the size of a possum or a badger.  It was much bigger than other known mammals of the time period.

There are many smaller mammals from that time period, but this was when dinosaurs ruled the Earth.  Here is the thing about this mammal:  It ate baby dinosaurs.  Paleontologists found baby dinosaur bones inside this mammal.  So maybe not all mammals were totally terrified of dinosaurs.  This one was willing to raid dinosaur nests.

There are two known species with R. robustus being the size of a Virginia opossum and probably weighed about 13 lbs. or 6 kg.   R. giganticus was the size of a badger. at 31 lbs or 14 kg.

This early mammal was discovered around the year 2000.  Its discovery has changed how we think about Mesozoic Era mammals.  Again, they were not all wimps who lived in terror of all dinosaurs.


The second drawing is of another surprise find from China.  It was from the Jurassic Period.  It was a small mammal that lived among the dinosaurs, but it could fly.  At the very least it could glide.  It had a furry membrane that stretched from arms and legs.  This membrane allowed it to glide from tree to tree like modern-day flying squirrels.  It has been named Volaticotherium.

Volaticotherium was around on Earth about 164 million years ago.  It was an insectivore, so it ate insects.  On the other hand, modern flying squirrels are herbivores.  Volaticotherium had a flat tail that probably helped with its gliding from tree to tree.  It was around 5 or 6 inches long.  That is about 12-14 cm.

This find reveals that mammals went airborne around 70 million years earlier than previously thought.  Previously it was thought that bats were the first flying mammals.


The last picture is of a mammal that lived in the early Cretaceous Period, about 122 million years ago.  It was named Zhangheotherium.  It was small, at about 6 inches or 16 cm long.  It was unique because, like a platypus, it had a poisonous spur on its back legs.  It also is thought to be a lactating mammal and that females had mammary glands on their underside.  Zhangheotherium was also found in China.  To be more specific, it was found in the Liaoning Province.

In this drawing the Zhangheotherium has been caught by a small carnivorous Theropod dinosaur.  But instead of getting eaten, Zhangheotherium is about stab and paralyze his enemy with his back leg spur.  The poison's effect may not be permanent, but it will give Zhangheotherium time to escape.  So this mammal was not so helpless after all... even when hunted by dinosaurs that wanted to have a Zhangheotherium lunch.

I want to give credit to the streaming service called Curiosity Stream.  We recently saw a video about these amazing discoveries.  This video inspired these drawings and today's post.  We saw the video on Curiosity Stream.  The video is called:  Ancient Earth, The Dawn of Mammals.  There are several other videos in this series.  The captions are available in multiple languages.


NOTE:  I will be posting this in several languages.  These drawings are Copyright Robin Andrew Lyman 2020.  All the drawings on this blog are Copyright Robin Andrew Lyman 2016-2020.  The drawings are free and can be printed and used to color.  Libraries, teachers, parents, cruise ships, museums, and any educational program has my permission to print the drawings for kids or adults to color.  There are no fees on this blog.  These drawings can be found, in printable form by clicking on the buttons up at the top of this page that are labeled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Paleontology . . . . . . . . . . .  All Printables.