Road excavations Guizhou Province, ChinaA treasure trove of ancient fish fossils was discovered. The rock layers that make up the “The” are known for their rich collection of fish fossils. Rongxi Formation is the new fossil bed It is This collection is filled with new species, which push back the dates of our first jawed animals ancestors by around 15 million years.
Ivan Sansom, University of Birmingham paleobiologist says, “Until now, we’ve picked-up hints from fossils that the evolution of jawedfish occurred much earlier in fossil record but haven’t uncovered anything definite as fossil teeth or fin spines.”
An earlier jawed animal that was known to have existed was a fish. 423,000,000 years ago. An estimated 20 tooth collection taken from the rock-bed could be as old as 439 million years. A fish called “An ancient fish species” left the teeth. Qianodus duplicisThese early glimpses give us an insight into the origins of our own jaw and teeth.
Jaws were a key innovation in vertebrates’ evolution. They allowed boned animals to eat more than their filter-feeding ancestors. This enabled early backboned animals, which allowed them to move into new environments and continue to shape their anatomy. This resulted in the large variety of body shapes we see today in vertebrates.
Jaws are clearly a success story for the animal kingdom. It is not much more than a heavily laden animal. Modified fish gillsThey are still found in more that 99 percent of the vertebrates.
Relatives of this newly identified toothy animal would give rise to two of the major groups of modern fish – chondrichthyans(sharks & rays) osteichthyansThis includes almost all other seafood, from tuna and seahorses to lungfish.
The descendants of the second group will eventually lead to tetrapods. These will eventually bear mammals similar to us.
“QianodusThis is the first time that we have any tangible evidence of teeth and, by extension, jaws in this crucial early period of vertebrate evolutionary evolution.” “ Qujing Normal University paleontologist Qiang Li.
Researchers can only guess what kind of features they will find. QianodusRegardless of what teeth they might have had, it’s impossible to tell how an animal looked.
Also, thousands of fragments of bone were also found. The Rongxi Formation. These pieces were then carefully reassembled by researchers to reveal more about a body. It belonged to an ancient shark ancestor, which they named Fanjingshania renovata.
“This is one of the oldest jawed fishes with known anatomy.” explainsMin Zhu, vertebrate paleontologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “The new data allowed for us to place FanjingshaniaYou can find the phylogenetic tree for early vertebrates to learn more about the evolutionary steps that led to important adaptations like jaws, sensory systems and paired appendages in the tree.
Another shark ancestor Shenacanthus vermiformiA more ancient fish species Xiushanosteus mirabilisThese were also discovered at this time South ChinaThe fossil bed dates to the same period, the Huixingshao Formation.
These discoveries aligned the fish fossil record better with molecular-clock data derived from extinct and living species’ genes. They suggest that jawed creatures evolved around 450million years ago. These fish fossils are tangible evidence of this feature that eventually led us to frogs. dinosaursand our existence was established already during the Silurian period(around 444-420 million years ago).
These are the first fish-like creatures we recognize, evolved from creatures known as ‘clams without tails’. Ordovician periodPlamen Andreev, a paleontologist at the University of Birmingham, says “Yes,”
The jawless fish that was found at road excavation sites in China provided additional clues about our evolution. Researchers also found a rock that was 436 million years old and contained a jawless galeaspid, (helmet shield) fish. Zhu and his colleague were shocked to discover that this prehistoric animal had paired Fins.
These were the only ones that existed before fossilization. Tujiaaspis vividusKnown to have been finless, it was believed that they had never been found.
These early fins didn’t require any special muscular input and created lift passively through forward motion, much like a paper plane moving through the air. This supports the long-debated theory that one pair of limbs evolved in animals first and then separated into pelvic (arm) and pectoral (leg) fins over time.
“Eventually, primitive fins developed musculature, skeletal support, and were able to steer their swimming and add propulsion. explainsJoseph Keating, University of Bristol paleontologist. “It’s amazing to think about the evolutionary innovations observed in TujiaaspisLocomotion is a fundamental principle in the lives of animals such as birds, whales and bats.
These amazing new discoveries provide important clues to our prehistoric evolutionary journey, from fish to human.
Research on the oldest fish Shark jaws, Early fins The oldest teethThey were all published in Nature.
