welcome
Phys Org

Phys Org

Science

Science

A 380-million-year-old fossil 'fish' from Scotland has been discovered in Australia

Phys Org
Summary
Nutrition label

87% Informative

Palaeospondylus is the smallest vertebrate fossil animal described so far from Australia .

It lived in the shallow margins of a marine environment about 400 million years ago .

Unlike nearly all fossil fish of that age, it was "naked," lacking external dermal bones and scales.

It is the oldest example from the fossil record to show a segmented vertebral column.

The unique uncrushed preservation of this braincase provides the first details of brain structure in this tiny animal from 400 million years ago .

The honeycomb tissue seems unique to Palaeospondylus , but could be a precursor to calcified cartilage of some other groups, including modern sharks.