Living Lobe-finned Fish
An ancestor of coelacanths, a "living fossil" fish thought extinct until a live one was caught in 1938 off South Africa, has been identified, paleontologists say.
Unlike living coelacanths, which are slow-moving fish with peculiar
broad tails, the extinct ancestor had a tuna-like forked tail and was probably a fast-moving, shark-like predator, Canadian researchers from the University of Alberta have reported in the Journal of Vertebrate Palentology.
The 3-foot long fish with a massive symmetrical forked tail quite unlike the tails of any other living or fossil coelacanths has been named Rebellatrix, the "rebel coelacanth.
The fossils were discovered on rocky slopes in Wapiti Lake Provincial Park in British Columbia.
Both the shape and the stiffness of the tail fin are unique amongst coelacanths, researchers said.
Because similar tail fins occur today in fast swimming predatory fishes such as tuna or barracuda, Rebellatrix was probably an active predator capable of fast bursts of swimming to catch other fishes living in ancient seas.
The unusual tail evolution may have been a specific response following the Earth's greatest mass-extinction event at the end of the Permian, 250 million years ago, as coelacanths evolved to fill a vacant niche unoccupied by other predatory fishes, scientists said.
"This is an amazing discovery which overturns the age old image of coelacanths as slow moving fishes and shows the resilience of the group to come back in true fighting form after surviving the world's most devastating mass extinction event," said John Long of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, an expert in fossil fishes who was not involved in the study.
GMT 10:53 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Philippine volcano rains ash, violent eruption fearedGMT 05:10 2018 Monday ,22 January
China's waste import ban upends global recycling industryGMT 09:15 2018 Sunday ,21 January
Dutch shocked by call to ban EU electric pulse fishingGMT 08:03 2018 Friday ,19 January
Cape Town water ration to be slashed as drought bitesGMT 08:06 2018 Thursday ,18 January
Thames paddle-boarders try to turn the tide on plasticGMT 11:22 2018 Wednesday ,17 January
The Romanian sheep nibbling away at US securityGMT 08:02 2018 Tuesday ,16 January
China races to prevent environmental disasterGMT 07:58 2018 Sunday ,14 January
Sea levels off Dutch coast highest ever recordedMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor