Complexity Digest 2005.19 - 15

09-May-2005

Fossils Illuminate Fish Evolution, BBC News Bookmark and Share

Excerpts:
The animals lived in a time when Africa was in an ice age
Fossils of an ancient fish - dating back 450 million years, when the creatures had neither bones nor teeth - have been found in South Africa. The finds, which are 50 million years older than any other fossil fish in Africa, will help provide a "missing link" in the evolution of early fish.

(...) how we know these fossils are fishes, (...).

"The answer is that the exceptional preservation displayed in these rocks enables us to recognise the eyes, scales and even the livers of the animals. "