Rare 1-centimetre fossil found in Gobi Desert amazes scientists

• Palaeontologists uncovered a remarkably preserved miniature fossil in Mongolia's Gobi Desert, offering insight into early mammalian life during the Late Cretaceous period.
• The nearly complete skeleton measures just one centimetre, making it among the smallest known mammalian fossils, resembling a shrew-like insect-eating creature.
• Environmental factors like rapid burial by sandstorms protected the delicate skeleton from decay, preserving fine skeletal details for millions of years.
• The fossil provides clues about adaptation in extreme environments, showing how small insect-eating mammals survived without steady water sources.
• Advanced imaging tools like high-resolution micro CT scanning are used to study the fragile specimen, creating a digital 3D model for analysis.