The heart of a 380 million-year-old fish has been found inside a piece of Australian sediment, sending scientists’ heartbeats up. Not only is this organ in great shape, but it can also provide clues about the evolution of jawed vertebrates, which includes you and me.
The heart belonged to an extinct class of armor-jawed fish called arthropods that flourished in the Devonian period between 419.2 million and 358.9 million years ago—250 million years older than the heart-jawed fish that currently bears the “oldest” moniker. The fish is very old, but the placement of its S-bar with two chambers has led researchers to note the surprising anatomical similarities between ancient swimmers and modern sharks.
Professor Kate Triangstick, a vertebrate paleontologist at Curtin University in Australia and co-author of a new study on the findings said. “These fish literally have their hearts in their mouths and under their gills – just like today’s sharks,” Triangstick said.
the study Back in Science on Wednesday.
The scientists took an extra close look at the exact location of the organ because they were able to observe it in relation to the fossilized fish’s stomach, intestines and liver, which are rare.
“I can’t tell you how surprised I was to find a beautifully preserved 3D heart and other organs in this ancient fossil,” Trinagistic said.
The white ring shows the spiral valves of the intestine, but the heart is not visible here. “I was absolutely stunned by the fact that we can actually see the soft tissues preserved in such an ancient fish,” says John Long, professor of paleontology at Flinders University in Australia, and co-author of a new study on the discovery. “I knew right away that it was a very important discovery.”
John Long / Flinders University
Paleontologists encountered the fossils during a 2008 expedition at GoGo Formation in Western Australia, and they add to a body of information gleaned from the site, including the origins of the teeth and insights about the transition from fins to limbs. The GoGo Formation, a sedimentary deposit in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, is known for its rich fossil record sustaining Devonian reef life from the Paleozoic Era, including the remains of delicate tissues such as nerves and embryos with umbilical cords.
joint anatomy.
“Most cases of soft-tissue preservation are found in flattened fossils, where the soft anatomy is little more than a speck on the rock,” said study co-author, Per Ahlberg of Sweden’s Uppsala University. “We are also very fortunate that modern scanning techniques allow us to study these fragile soft tissues without destroying them. Two decades ago, the project would have been impossible.”
These techniques include neutron beams and X-ray microimaging, which create cross-sections of physical objects that can then be used to recreate virtual 3D models.
Light was shed on the fossil discoveries of modern fish How do “dinosaur fish”, an endangered species, stand on their heads How many prehistoric lizard fish? It looked like a dolphin flipper.
Study co-author Ahlberg reminds those who may not consider such discoveries important: that life is, at its most basic level, an evolving system.
“The fact that we ourselves and all other organisms with whom we share the planet evolved from a common descent through a process of evolution is not an accidental fact,” Ahlberg said. “It is the most profound truth of our existence. We are all connected, in the most literal sense.”
“Reader. Infuriatingly humble coffee enthusiast. Future teen idol. Tv nerd. Explorer. Organizer. Twitter aficionado. Evil music fanatic.”