National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Ancient Fish Fossil May Rewrite Story of Animal Evolution


Email to a Friend	<< Back to Full Story

An almost intact fossil of the ancient fish Gogonasus may rewrite the story of how four-limbed animals, known as tetrapods, first colonized land.

The 380-million-year-old specimen has surprisingly advanced features, including fins and nostrils remarkably similar to the limbs and ears of the first land tetrapods, scientists say.

Photograph courtesy John Broomfield, Museum Victoria/Nature