Brand new insights from the world's oldest fish

Brand new insights from the world’s oldest fish Today’s Video of the Day from Flinders University describes what researchers are learning by analyzing one of the world’s oldest types of fish. The Coelacanth fish was thought to be extinct but was found to be a still living species.

The coelacanth, also known as a “living fossil” because it lived alongside the dinosaurs, is giving experts a new understanding of skull and brain development among vertebrates.

The coelacanth was thought to have vanished with the dinosaurs over 65 million years ago, until a living specimen was found off the coast of South Africa in 1938.

The skull of this rare fish was found to be completely split in half a by special “intracranial joint,” and its brain is only one percent the size of the skull.

An international team of researchers has looked into the biology of the skull at different stages of development to determine when it divides and forms a hinge. As seen above is the Brand new insights from the world’s oldest fish. This fish is an amazing species that once was thought to have died off but has come and gone throughout so many years.  Gars are among the oldest fish alive today; their origins can be traced back to the Cretaceous period. These african fish are often called “dinosaur eels”, due to their reptilian appearance and serrated dorsal fin, reminiscent of some dinosaurs’ spiked backs. 

The study is published in the journal Nature.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: Flinders University