Paleontologists recently discovered a new extinct species coelacanth species which emphasizes the role that Earth’s plate tectonics plays in evolution. Also called Latimeria, coelacanths are a deep-sea fish that are now found off the coast of East Africa and Indonesia.
This new ‘exceptionally well preserved’ ancient and primitive coelacanth is associated with a period of increased crustal movement that likely accelerated the evolution of this fish evolution. Ngamugawi Wind Garri also helps to complete an important transition between his earliest forms to his more developed body. The findings are detailed in a study published September 12 in the journal Nature communication.
“Our analyses have shown that tectonic plate activity has a major influence on the rate of evolution of the coelacanth,” said Alice Clement, co-author of the study and an evolutionary biologist and paleontologist at Flinders University in Australia. said in a statement“Namely, that new species of coelacanths were more likely to evolve during periods of increased tectonic activity, as new habitats were divided and created.”
(Related: Our four-legged ancestors evolved from the sea to the land at an astonishing rate.)
What is the Denovian mass extinction?
Plate tectonics appears to play a major role in how species evolve on Earth, in the same way that events such as climate change or asteroid impacts do. The new fossil of Ngamugawi Wind Garri which points to this shaky time in Earth’s history was found in Gogo Formation of Western AustraliaThis formation contains fossils of numerous species that became extinct during the Devonian extinctionsa series of mass extinction events that occurred mainly affected marine organisms about 359 to 419 million years ago.
Although scientists aren’t entirely sure what led to the Devonian extinction, it may have happened quickly global warming or coolinga meteorite impact, or excessive nutrient runoff due to continental drift and plate tectonicsAbout 70 to 80 percent of all animal species have become extinct, so the Denovian extinctions are still among the least severe mass extinctions on Earth.
Coelacanth fossils like this one are useful because two known species of coelacanth are still alive todayThey are compared to ‘living fossils’ because of their age and supposed similarities with ancient ancestors. In the past 410 million years, more than more than 175 species of coelacanths have been discovered.
“(The fossil) gives us a great insight into the early anatomy of this lineage that ultimately led to humans,” said study co-author and Flinders University paleontologist John Long said in a statement“For over 35 years, we have been finding several perfectly preserved 3D fish fossils at Gogo sites, which have yielded many important discoveries, including mineralized soft tissues and the origin of complex sexual reproduction in vertebrates.”
Coelacanths to humans
As a fish with lobe finthe robust bones in the coelacanth’s fins somewhat resemble our own arms. They are also considered to be more closely related to lungfish and animals with backbones and arms and legs, quadrupeds than for most other fish.
Some parts of our own anatomy, including jaws and ventricular hearts, have their roots approximately 540 to 350 million years ago during the Early Paleozoic EraIn . early fishJaws, teeth, paired appendages, ossified braincases, intromittent sex organs, chambered hearts, and paired lungs all appeared at this time.
(Related: Yes, people are still evolving.)
“Although the Gogo Formation on Gooniyandi Country in the Kimberley region of northern Western Australia is now covered in dry rock outcrops, about 380 million years ago it was part of an ancient tropical reef teeming with more than 50 species of fish,” Long said.
The team calculated the rate of evolution of the coelacanthThey found that coelacanth evolution has slowed dramatically since the time of the dinosaurswith some exceptions. During the age of the dinosaurs, coelacanths diversified considerably, with some species developing unusual body shapes.
However, about 66 million years ago they mysteriously disappeared from the fossil record. This was during the end of the Cretaceous mass extinction, which wiped out about 75 percent of all life on Earth– including non-avian dinosaurs. Scientists assumed that coelacanth fish were victims of the same mass extinction. In 1938, a fishing group off the coast of South Africa pulled a large, mysterious-looking fish from the ocean depths that turned out to be a coelacanth.
This recently discovered fossil coelacanth species fills in some major evolutionary gaps.CREDIT: Clement et al. 2024. Flinders University
Since then, the species has been believed to have remained virtually unchanged, but the new fossil species challenges the idea that surviving coelacanths have stopped evolving and are frozen in time.
“They first appear in the geological record more than 410 million years ago, with fragmentary fossils known from places like China and Australia. However, most early forms are still poorly known, making Ngamugawi Wind Garri the best-known Devonian coelacanth,” study co-author and paleontologist Richard Cloutier of the University of Quebec at Rimouski said in a statement“As we slowly fill in the gaps, we can begin to understand how living coelacanth species of Latimeria, typically considered ‘living fossils,’ actually continue to evolve and perhaps do not deserve such an enigmatic title.”