The evolutionary relationship between a fish fossil 400 million years old and humanity

It is thought that the functional structure of a newly discovered 400 million-year-old fossil is part of human evolutionary lineage.

This ancient fossil was excavated in a limestone study around Lake Burinjuck - about 50km northwest of Australia's Canberra capital.

The area is famous for the rare skulls of an armored fish known as the skinfish . However, experts say the newly discovered specimen has the best preserved skull ever found among the specimens of the skinfish.

This ancient fossil was excavated in a study of limestone around Lake Burinjuck.

The co-author of the study - graduate student Yuzhi Hu from the Australian National University's Department of Earth Sciences said: 'This fossil shows very complex details about the jaw structure of the fish. This ancient, it is part of the evolutionary lineage that leads to humanity. '

Graduate student Yuzhi Hu and 3D model of fish fossils were created after the tomography was completed.

Hu said that the jaw joints of this ancient fish can still be found in the human skull, but now it is part of the middle ear. Carotid arteries in humans and other mammals transport blood through their necks to provide oxygen for their heads. '

3D prints of fish fossils in Lake Burrinjuck seen from the abdomen.

The researchers used high-resolution tomography equipment to analyze the amazing preserved internal structure of the skull, and created 3D prints to test the jaw. Previously, this technique has never been used for fossils of vertebrates.