Ancient horse-like foetus discovered in Germany

A fossilised foetus belonging to an early relative of the horse has been described by scientists.

The unborn foal was identified among the remains of its mother - a 48-million-year-old horse-like animal found in Germany's Messel pit in 2000.
The mare probably fell into a lake shortly before birth - which led to outstanding preservation of the soft tissue from the foetus.
Details are published in the open access journal Plos One.
Dr Jens Loren Franzen and colleagues investigated the 12.5cm-long foetus using scanning electronic microscopy and high-resolution micro-X-rays.
Almost all bones are present and connected, except for the skull, which appears to have been crushed.
And this exceptional preservation allowed the researchers to reconstruct the original appearance and position of the foetus.
This corresponded very well with foetuses in living mares, suggesting the horse reproductive system was already highly developed during the Eocene Period.