Washington, Oct 18: For the first time, researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada have been able to give a name and a description to an ancient mammal that has so far defied classification.

The creature, which has been named Horolodectes sunae because of the unusual shape of the crowns of the teeth, lived about 60 million years ago, soon after the dinosaurs went extinct.

Based on careful examination of tooth and jaw fragments that have been unearthed over the past three decades, palaeontologists were able to determine that Horolodectes was a small fur-bearing animal measuring 10 centimetres in length, with powerful jaws capable of delivering a very strong bite.

Even more confusing is the fact that the animal’s teeth, resembles, albeit in a superficial way, those of primitive relatives of ungulates, the group of mammals that include horses and cows. However, unlike ungulates, which are herbivores, Horolodectes feasted on small insects and grubs.

“It had sharp crests on the teeth which formed blades, indicating it was likely carnivorous. Horolodectes means 'hourglass biter', in reference to the creature's peculiar hourglass-shaped pre-molars, the teeth between the canine and the molars. The very tall, sharp pre-molars are unlike any others so far discovered in the mammal world. There is nothing else with teeth quite like it," said Craig Scott, a PhD candidate and lead author of the study in the Journal of Palaeontology.

Researchers unearthed the first dental specimens of the creature 30 years ago on the banks of the Blindman River in Alberta, Canada.

About 10 years ago, more teeth were discovered at a dig site near Drayton Valley and on the banks of the Blindman.

But since then, the creature has befuddled researchers, who have not been able to positively identify it.

Even now researchers don’t know where to place it exactly in the evolutionary chain.

“In an area of North America that's been fairly well studied, it's unusual to have a critter like this pop up. It's not known anywhere else, just in Alberta, and it's quite distinct. There's no mistaking it,” Scott said.

"It's just too bizarre to place in any group that we've known about previously. It's an open question until we can find more of it. We have no information from a skull or other parts of the body," he added. (ANI)