Fish fossil suggests early evolution of jaws
A group of Chinese scientists recently reported finding a 423-million-year old fossil from the Silurian period in Chongqing, suggesting that the development of animal jaws may have begun earlier than previously thought.
It is the second place to yield complete Silurian period fossils of fish with jaws, known as placoderms. The other is Qujing in Yunnan province.
The working team included researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chongqing Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources. Their findings were published in the biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal Current Biology on Friday.
The new placoderm — given the technical name Bianchengichthys — is close to the last common ancestor of bony and cartilaginous fish.
"The fossil is exquisitely preserved with a mandible and paired fins," the report said. The mandible (lower jaw) "interestingly combines characteristics" of similar creatures, it said.
