The most primitive duck-nose fish found 410 million years ago in Yunnan

Fossil photo of the fish head shell of the olive pattern and its restoration (painted by Guo Xiaocong)

Ecological restoration map of olive-patterned fish (painted by Guo Xiaocong)

Recently, the magazine "Historical Biology," published online by the China Kexue Yuan and Paleoanthropology of Vertebrate Paleontology cover Chi Kun, Zhu Min, Shandong University of Science and Technology Jiang Wenyu and Qujing Normal University Shi Xiaodong, Li Qiang, the latest in research done in collaboration with researchers.

The discovery of olivacea enriched the morphological characteristics of armored fishes, provided key materials for the study of the adaptation radiation of armored fishes in the Early Devonian Bragg Age, and at the same time, it is useful for studying the origin, diversity and diversity of armored fishes.

Armored fish is a type of extinct armored fish with "helmet and armor".

Anatidae belongs to a very interesting group under the order of the South China order of the armored fishes.

At present, there are still many uncertainties in scientists' understanding of the Anhynchidae, because of the scarcity of fossil materials, especially the model genus Anhynchus only has an incomplete specimen with a missing back part of the head.

However, other authors believe that the horns and inner horns of duck-snout fish and Wumeng mountain fish may be lost secondary, and they belong to the "crack turtle type".

The discovery of the olive-patterned fish has provided new clues to clarify the above problems.

The results of phylogenetic analysis showed that the fish, duck-snout fish, Wumeng mountain fish and split turtles formed a single line-the duck-snout fish family.

Unlike the split turtle with strong swimming ability, like most armored fish, the fish may still live in a benthic life, moving on sandy or muddy substrates in coastal and marine environments.

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Key Research Program of Frontier Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Strategic Leading Science and Technology Special Project (Category B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Related paper information: org/10.