It has only been a mates of weeks since worldwide excitement erupted over the discovery of anew human ascendant , but already South Africa has churned out yet another fascinating fossil find . A new genusandspecies of coelacanth has been unearthed from the Eastern Cape , representing the earliest specimens to have been found on the continent so far .
If you ’re wonder what the heck a Latimeria chalumnae is and why this is important , allow me to irradiate you . Coelacanthsare among the quondam types of Pisces in the world , considered by some to be “ live fossils . ” These ancient , naive Pisces , which dwell at depth of up to 700 cadence ( 2,300 ft ) , were believed to have been wipe off the grimace of the Earth alongside the dinosaurs , some 65 million geezerhood ago . But rather out of the blue , to say the least , a lively Latimeria chalumnae was catch by a fisherman back in1938 , keep an eye on by another in 1952 .
These prehistoric fish have now been spotted many times , but it ’s not just this noteworthy disappearing act that has attracted so much scientific interest group , and controversy . Among their bizarre mixture of features is a couplet of curiously tree branch - similar , or “ lobed , ” cinque that start out of the torso like leg . Unlike other fish , these move in an tack pattern and even contain clappers that resemble toe . It ’s therefore believe by many that animals like these marked a decisive point in the transition from sea to state , representing an significant link between fish and land - live vertebrate .
It ’s thought that coelacanths appeared around 420 million years ago , with several different species from this period ( the Devonian ) described from incomplete specimens found in various parts of the earth , including Europe and Australia , but interestingly not Africa . This unexampled find , dating back about 360 million years , is therefore of import for our understanding of the early evolution of these bizarre creatures .
NamedSerenicthys kowiensis , more than 30 complete specimen of this new species were name at Waterloo Farm , a recent Devonian fossil estuary near Grahamstown . Alongside being unusually well - preserved , all of the specimens are thought to constitute juveniles . According to the authors , this suggests thatSerenichthyswas using the shelter estuarine environment as a nursery , much like many modern - twenty-four hour period fish species . Prior to this uncovering , the earliest example of such a coelacanth nursery came from 300 million - yr - old specimens rule in America . you could read more about the breakthrough in theZoological Journal of the Linnean Society .
“ This glance into the early life chronicle of ancient coelacanths raises further doubt about the life history of the New coelacanth , Latimeria , which is have a go at it to bear live vernal , but whether they , too , are clustered in nurseries continue unknown , ” principal investigator Professor Michael Coates from the University of Chicago say in astatementfrom the University of the Witwatersrand .
Interestingly , S. kowiensiswas found just 100 kilometers ( 62 miles ) from the field that the first bouncy coelacanth was caught back in 1938 . And from the investigator ’ analyses , they believe that , of those Devonian coelacanth discovered so far , this particular species displays the most similarities to those launch today .
