A new study into one of the world’s oldest types of fish, Coelacanths, provides fresh insights into the development of the skull and brain of vertebrates and the evolution of lobe-finned fishes and land animals, as published in Nature.
The Coelacanth (Latimeria chalumnae) is so rare it was thought to have gone extinct with dinosaurs over 65 million years ago. But the discovery of a living specimen off the coast of South Africa in 1938 prompted debate about whether this fish fits into our understanding about the evolution of land animals.
The skull of this ancient fish also happens to be completely split in half a by special ‘intracranial joint’ and its brain is so ridiculously small, it remains only one percent the size of the cavity that houses it, which makes Coelacantsh survival unique amongst all living vertebrates.
Негізгі бет Fish that outlived dinosaurs reveals secrets of ancient skull evolution
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