Fish evolved from shallow coastal waters more than 400 years ago?

According to scientists, fish may have evolved from shallow coastal lines more than 400 years ago. The new findings are published in the journal Science on the evolution of vertebrate fish in the middle Paleozoic century, from 480 million to 360 million years ago.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, University of Manchester and Birmingham University.

The team focuses mainly on vertebrate fossils, both jaw and non-jawed fish. The researchers found that larger fish species diversified near the coast, and then more fragile fish settled in freshwater and deeper waters.

Fish that have a slimmer body can move further to deep waters.

Their goal is to 'complete a missing link in our evolutionary story' by closing some gaps in what scientists know about that period.

Lauren Sallan, a home from the University of Pennsylvania and chair of research, told PennToday: 'It is still a question of where they are? Where do they hide? What is their environmental origin? '

The team created a database of more than 2,700 fossil records of jawless and jawed fish species from every continent. The team then used the database to find out which initial fish habitat was the ocean.

Sallan said: 'One reason why these fossils are difficult to study is because the area finds them. Wave activity in shallow waters is capable of breaking them into tiny pieces'.

This new finding contradicts previous findings that the evolutionary environment of these species began in deep waters near coral reefs.

Over time, fish with a slimmer body can move further to deep waters. While larger body-type fish cannot cross over more intense waters, they are restricted to shallow waters.

Sallan said: 'In modern concepts, we find that coral reefs are very important for the biodiversity of fish, so we think there is an ancient relationship between fish and coral reefs from the beginning. begin. But decades of searching in places like the Cincinnati Arch have not yielded any results. '