The 380-million-year-old fish fossil carries the fetus

In 2005, the Victoria museum expedition led by Dr. John Long went to the Gogo fossil excavation site in northwestern Australia. Here they obtained strange fossils, including the complete fossil of the Gogonasus fish that bears unusual characteristics similar to the first terrestrial animals.

The team has just discovered a new discovery: a fossilized 380-year-old fossil placoderm carrying an intact fetus and mineralized umbilical cord.

This discovery, published in the journal Nature, is the oldest known placental animal fossil in the world. The discovery also provides the first evidence of the sexual reproduction of vertebrate animals, males (with modern shark or stingray reproductive organs) internal fertilization for females.

Dr. John Long, head of the Victoria Museum team, said: 'This is certainly one of the most unusual fossils ever found. Not only is it the first time that the umbilical cord fossil embryo has been detected, this is also the oldest example of animal birth. '

' The existence of embryos and umbilical cord inside fossils provides scientists with the first example of internal fertilization - for example through mating - to help confirm that some placoderm individuals have evolved form. Significant reproduction. The discovery changes our understanding of the evolution of vertebrates'.

Placoderm gave birth.(Photo: Victoria Museum)

The fossil is named Materpiscis attenboroughi, meaning 'mother fish', in honor of David Attenborough - the first to draw people's attention to the importance of Gogo sites in the book 'Life on Earth' ('Life on Earth') published in 1979.

In 1986, it was discovered that the breeds of sharks had no modern relatives - the second placoderm specimen brought up to three embryos but was only recently recognized. This is the first data that provides information about the placoderm species' biology, showing the initial bone formation sequence in the placoderm's development stages.

Research using the powerful CT scanner of Australian National University (Canberra). This ancient fossil was preserved with great care, more than any previous fossil. The team also published the 3-D preserved circulatory tissue, nerve tissue and muscle tissue of a Devonian fish (380 million years ago) in 2007.

The research project is funded by the Australian Research Foundation DP0772138 'Old Brains, New Data'.

Reference article:

1. Long et al. Live birth in the Devonian period. Nature, 2008; 453 (7195): 650 DOI: 10.1038 / nature06966
2. Long et al. An exceptional Devonian fish from Australia sheds light on tetrapod origins. Nature, 2006; 444 (7116): 199 DOI: 10.1038 / nature05243
3. Trinajstic et al. Exceptional preservation of nerve and muscle tissue in Late Devonian placoderm fish and their evolutionary implications. Biology Letters, 2007; 3 (2): 197 DOI: 10.1098 / rsbl.2006.0604