A new molecular analysis conducted on a 12,000 year-old fossil from the strangest animal ever discovered by Charles Darwin in South America has determined what this animal really is.

This protein study focused on ungulates native to Uruguay. Ungulates are a diverse group of mammals that have hooves and includes the Toxodon platensis, which is an elephant sized beast with a rhinoceros body type; a hippopotamus head and bizarre rodent teeth.

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When Darwin discovered these creatures during his Beagle voyage, he was awestruck and recorded this in his 1839 account. He wrote how wonderfully different the animal orders are, which are blended together using different points of structure that makes up the toxodon.

At first Darwin suspected the unusual beast is a distant relative of rodents. Since then, other scientists have suggested the toxodon and its descendants are closely related to aardvarks and elephants.

This recent study conducted by Ian Barnes from London's Natural History Museum and his team, however, have confirmed these creatures are from a mammalian group called "condylarths".

Condylarths are closely related to perissodactyls, which are odd toed, hoofed mammals.

Researchers deciphered the ungulates' family tree by analyzing fragments of collagen proteins that were recovered from the Late Quaternary fossils of the creatures and also from other mammalian samples. This collagen is mostly found in connective tissue and is classified as structural protein.

These proteins can also be sequenced and studied like DNA signatures and they are more likely to be preserved in fossilized bones. This new research proves that proteins can also serve as an important key to unlocking more evolutionary mysteries.

This protein study was published online in the journal, Nature.

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