The new specimensA flock of fossilised sheep have been found during archaeological excavations in a remote corner of Patagonia. Dating back 175 million years (when the last mega-continent of Pangaea began to break up), this previously unknown species is believed to be an ancestor of the Australian Merino. Ironically, the Merino was re-imported at the beginning of the 20th century and has been a mainstay of Argentina’s very successful wool industry.
Standing up to 2m tall, their main diet would have been the Escandalosa bush, which still exists today and is well known for its flammability, useful for those caught out on the steppe with no fire.