<
https://theconversation.com/a-365-million-year-old-fish-with-an-extreme-underbite-showcases-vertebrate-diversity-221931>
"Vertebrates are defined as all animals that possess a vertebral column, or
backbone. Most living vertebrates also possess jaws, teeth and paired fins or
limbs.
Fossils of the earliest vertebrates help us understand not only how these
features originated, but also how they evolved and diversified over time.
Our study, published in
Royal Society Open Science, examines
365-million-year-old fossils of a fish with the world’s longest underbite,
called
Alienacanthus malkowskii. These fossils demonstrate the diversity of
jawed vertebrates early on during their evolution.
Alienacanthus is a member of an extinct group of fish called placoderms,
which are some of the first jawed vertebrates. They are armoured fish of
various shapes and sizes and are essential to understanding the evolution of
vertebrates and their features, particularly jaws and teeth.
Together, placoderm jaws and teeth hold evidence of feeding strategies and
diets, giving us insights into what and how some of our fishy ancestors ate."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
