However, the animal is far from resembling the hobbit imagined by JRR Tolkien. After discovering a new species of mammals that lived after the dinosaurs died out, paleontologists at the University of Colorado, United States, decided to name him after a character from the Lord of the Rings.
Beornus honeyi, which looks like a tiger and is the size of a cat, owes its name to Beorn, a small humanoid with hairy feet capable of transforming into a bear, reveals Slate, relaying information from The Independent. Their similarity, according to paleontologists: the swollen molars of the mammal that made them think of the fantastic creature.
In their research, scientists also discovered two other so far unknown species. According to them, Beornus honeyi, Miniconus jeanninae and Conacodon hettingeri roamed North America during the Paleocene era, a few hundred thousand years after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, specifies the information site.
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