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China Fish Fossil

September 28, 2013 by · Comments Off on China Fish Fossil 

China Fish Fossil, A leading British scientist has said that the discovery of a 419-million-year-old fish fossil in China is a stunning and spectacular development.

Palaeobiologist Matt Friedman told the BBC that the fish provided crucial evidence about the evolutionary development of jawed vertebrates.

As a remote relative of humans, it provides important evolutionary clues.

“It is the deepest branch of our family tree that bears the kinds of jaw bones found in humans,” Dr Friedman said.

The fossil was found at China’s Xiaoxiang Reservoir, and was reported by the journal Nature on Thursday.

The fossil of Entelognathus primordialis, in front of a computer screen showing a life restoration image
Scientists say that the heavily armoured fish, Entelognathus primordialis, is a previously unknown member of jawed vertebrates also known as gnathostomes. It has a complex small skull and jaw-bone structure.

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