Paleontologist at Flinders University brian chu and his colleagues described a new genus and species of Devonian tetrapod fish based on several nearly complete skulls and postcranial skeletons.
“Tetrapodomorpha “It consists of tetrapods and their closest fish relatives, the oldest records of which are from the Pragians of China,” said Dr Chu and co-authors.
“This group diversified greatly in both marine and freshwater habitats during the Middle to Late Devonian, giving rise to several distinct lineages, including the earliest quadrupeds.”
“Tetrapods flourished after the Devonian limbless fish tetrapods experienced a marked decline in diversity during the Carboniferous, but only survived into the early Permian before disappearing from the fossil record. There were only a handful of representative animals.”
This new species of tetrapod lived about 380 million years ago and was up to 45 to 50 centimeters long.
with scientific name Harajikadectes zuminithis fish is particularly distinctive for its large opening at the top of its skull.
“These spire-like structures are thought to facilitate air breathing at the surface, and modern African bichir fish have similar structures for taking in air at the surface,” said Dr Chew. Ta.
“This feature appears in multiple tetrapomodorf lineages at about the same time during the middle to late Devonian period.”
“In addition to Harajikadectes zumini Large spiracles also appeared from central Australia. gogonathus El Pisto Stegarian from Western Australia Tiktaalik — are the closest relatives of four-limbed quadrupeds. ”
“And it shows up in unrelated places.” Pickeringius Western Australian stingray fin fish first described in 2018. ”
with Dr. Chu Harajikadectes zumini fossil. Image credit: Flinders University.
Professor John Long from Flinders University said: “This synchronous emergence of air-breathing adaptations may have coincided with a period of reduced atmospheric oxygen during the mid-Devonian.”
“The ability to supplement gill breathing with oxygen from the air may have provided an adaptive advantage.”
“We discovered this new form of lobe-finned fish in one of the most remote fossil sites in all of Australia, the Harajika Sandstone Formation in the Northern Territory, about 200km west of Alice Springs. It dates from the mid-Devonian period. Late period, approximately 380 years ago.'' 1 million years old. ”
“It's difficult to pinpoint the location. Harajikadectes zumini sit in this group of fishes because they appear to have convergently acquired a mosaic of specialized features characteristic of widely separate branches of the tetrapod radiation. ”
of findings will appear in Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
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brian chu other. A new species of pedunculated tetrapod fish that lived in the middle to late Devonian period of central Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, published online on February 5, 2024. Doi: 10.1080/02724634.2023.2285000
Source: www.sci.news
