12 Boating New Zealand
Not many people would think humans
evolved parts of their bone structure from a fish.MEET YOUR
DISTANT NANA
A
ustralian fossil research – using modern
scanning techniques – has identified an
ancestor of all bony fish. And humans are
linked to it.
Researchers from Flinders University, along with
colleagues in the UK and Sweden, used the scanning
to uncover the origins of a 400-million-year-old
fossil fish called Ligulalepis. The technology has also
revealed a 3D-model of the fish’s ancient brain and
confirms it as the ancestor of all modern bony fish.
The fossil’s also linked to the bone structure of
human skeletons, providing anatomical evidence
about human evolution from fish which can today be
found within the makeup of our own bodies.
Flinders University Research Associate, Dr Alice
Clement, says the discovery of two 3D-preserved
fossils in Australia allowed the team to scan
hidden features inside the skull and lead to the
reconstruction of an ancient brain cavity.
“Our research reveals previously unknown details
about the pattern of dermal skull bones, the shape of
the brain and other soft tissue features. It resolves the
big question about what the ancestor of all modern
bony fish looked like,” Clement says.
“Understanding the structure is important because
Ligulalepis is in a crucial position on the evolutionary
tree. This discovery identified this fish as being the
ancestor of all bony fish right before two major
groups split and evolved diferent bodies.”
The University’s palaeontology professor,
John Long, says bony fish are an important group
because land animals such as mammals, reptiles and
amphibians evolved from them.
“Not many people would think humans evolved
parts of their bone structure from a fish. We are all
just highly advanced fishes, that’s the point of our
story. Four hundred million years ago, some of these
fish started to develop fins at the front with bones
that would eventually become the humerus, ulna and
radius that forms our arm.”
Flinders University’s research has highlighted the
evolutionary relationships of the first bony fishes and
demonstrated the importance of palaeontology to
help accurately understand our distant origins.