In a new study, an international research team led by Sebastian Stumpf from the University of Vienna describes an exceptionally well-preserved skeleton of the ancient shark Asteracanthus. This extremely rare fossil find comes ...
Evolution
Jan 14, 2021
0
143
Early sharks that lived 300 to 400 million years ago not only dropped their lower jaws downward but rotated them outward when opening their mouths. This enabled them to make the best of their largest, sharpest and inward-facing ...
Archaeology
Nov 18, 2020
0
159
The emergence of jaws in primitive fish allowed vertebrates to become top predators. What is less appreciated is another evolutionary innovation that may have been just as important for the success of early vertebrates: the ...
Evolution
Sep 29, 2020
0
172
Vision is a crucial sense for most animals, and vertebrates have evolved a highly adaptable set of opsin genes that generate light-sensitive pigments to decode the retinal image. These opsins include a rod opsin to help see ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 09, 2020
0
179
Published today, our new paper describes a spectacular 400 million-year-old 3-D-preserved fossil fish, Ligulalepis.
Archaeology
May 30, 2018
0
34
Latest analysis shows that human limbs share a genetic programme with the gills of cartilaginous fishes such as sharks and skates, providing evidence to support a century-old theory on the origin of limbs that had been widely ...
Evolution
Apr 19, 2016
1
287
An investigation of a 415-million-year-old fish skull strongly suggests that the last common ancestor of all jawed vertebrates, including humans, was not very shark-like. It adds further weight to the growing idea that sharks ...
Archaeology
Jan 12, 2015
0
533
A team of researchers including SF State Assistant Professor of Biology Scott Roy has sequenced the entire genome of the elephant shark, uncovering several features that may shed light on the evolution of bony vertebrates.
Biotechnology
Jan 08, 2014
0
0
(Phys.org)—Latest research shows that the 'paratympanic organ' (PTO) – the innate barometer in the middle ear of birds – evolved from a fish sense organ that detects jaw movement.
Plants & Animals
Sep 05, 2012
0
0
Biologists have long assumed that all jawed vertebrates possess a full complement of nearly identical genes for critical aspects of their development. But a paper in the December 16 issue of Science with Benjamin King of ...
Biotechnology
Dec 15, 2011
1
0
