Navigation
The Rational Response Squad is a group of atheist activists who impact society by changing the way we view god belief. This site is a haven for those who are pushing back against the norm, and a place for believers of gods to have their beliefs exposed as false should they want to try their hand at confronting us. Buy any item on AMAZON, and we'll use the small commission to help improve critical thinking. Buy a Laptop -- Apple |
Common Ancestor of Fish and Land Animals Found |
Copyright Rational Response Squad 2006-2021.
|
Scientists have discovered a 405-million-year-old fossilized fish that shares characteristics of modern bony fishes and land vertebrates.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, bony sea creatures of the group Osteichtheyes hit an evolutionary fork in the road. Some animals took the path towards Actinopterygii, a group of modern, ray-finned fish.
The rest evolved into Sacropterygii, the group that includes the ancestors of land vertebrates?coelacanths, lungfishes, and tetrapods.
Scientists pieced together the new fish species, Meemannia eos, from four incomplete skulls unearthed in China.
While the skull's roof looks actinopterygian, the fish possesses a network of pores and canals in the hard surface-tissue, called cosmine, which is characteristic of Sacropterygii.
The discovery provides scientists with both a potential common ancestor for living animals. It also gives insight to the poorly known origin of cosmine, an important protective feature of some fossilized bones, but unknown in living animals.
The find is detailed in the May 4 issue of the journal Nature.
We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking,
if mankind is to survive.