Jawing About Ancient Fish
A 505-million-year-old fish fossil reveals the first stages of the evolution of the jaw....
A 505-million-year-old fish fossil reveals the first stages of the evolution of the jaw.
New fossils discovered in Kootenay Park in British Columbia have helped identify what could be an important ancestor to most vertebrate animals. The 505-million-year-old fossil is of a fish with preserved remains that include important structures near the mouth that are thought, in time, to evolve into jawbones. The appearance of the jaw in fish was an important innovation that allowed animals to consume a wider array of foods, and diversify into more ecological niches. Professor Simon Conway Morris, a paleobiologist from the University of Cambridge, was part of the team that identified the new fossil.
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