Materpiscis: Difference between revisions
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'''''Materpiscis''''' ([[Latin language|Latin]]: ''mother fish'') is a [[genus]] of |
'''''Materpiscis''''' ([[Latin language|Latin]]: ''mother fish'') is a [[genus]] of [[ptyctodontid]] [[Placodermi|placoderm]] from the [[Late Devonian]] (about 380 million years ago) [[Gogo Reef Formation]] of [[Western Australia]]. Known from only one specimen, it is unique in having an unborn [[embryo]] present inside ''Materpiscis'', and with remarkable preservation of a mineralised placental feeding structure ([[umbilical cord]]). This makes ''Materpiscis'' the oldest known [[vertebrate]] to show [[vivipary|viviparity]], or giving birth to live young. |
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The fossil specimen was found in [[2005]] in the Gogo area of [[Western Australia]] by John Long of [[Museum Victoria]] and his colleagues Kate Trinajstic, Gavin Young and Tim Senden. Fossils from the Gogo site are preserved in [[limestone]] nodules so dilute [[acetic acid]] is used to dissolve the surrounding limestone and reveal the [[fossil]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m18sGLBdPGU Dr John Long describes the discovery of the Materpiscis]</ref> |
The fossil specimen was found in [[2005]] in the Gogo area of [[Western Australia]] by John Long of [[Museum Victoria]] and his colleagues Kate Trinajstic, Gavin Young and Tim Senden. Fossils from the Gogo site are preserved in [[limestone]] nodules so dilute [[acetic acid]] is used to dissolve the surrounding limestone and reveal the [[fossil]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m18sGLBdPGU Dr John Long describes the discovery of the Materpiscis]</ref> |
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Revision as of 01:14, 31 May 2008
| Materpiscis Temporal range: Late Devonian
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| Family: | Ptyctodontidae
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| Genus: | Materpiscis
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| Binomial name | |
| M. attenboroughi Long et al. 2008
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Materpiscis (Latin: mother fish) is a genus of ptyctodontid placoderm from the Late Devonian (about 380 million years ago) Gogo Reef Formation of Western Australia. Known from only one specimen, it is unique in having an unborn embryo present inside Materpiscis, and with remarkable preservation of a mineralised placental feeding structure (umbilical cord). This makes Materpiscis the oldest known vertebrate to show viviparity, or giving birth to live young.
The fossil specimen was found in 2005 in the Gogo area of Western Australia by John Long of Museum Victoria and his colleagues Kate Trinajstic, Gavin Young and Tim Senden. Fossils from the Gogo site are preserved in limestone nodules so dilute acetic acid is used to dissolve the surrounding limestone and reveal the fossil.[1]
Examination of the tail section of the Materpiscis specimen led to the discovery of the partially ossified skeleton of a juvenile Materpiscis and the mineralised umbilical cord. The team published their findings in 2008.[2] The species was named Materpiscis attenboroughi in honour of David Attenborough who first drew attention to the significance of the Gogo fish sites in his 1979 series Life on Earth.[3]
An armour-plated shark-like fish with no modern relatives, Materpiscis would have been about 25 to 30 cm long and had powerful crushing tooth plates to grind up its prey, possibly hard shelled invertebrates like clams or corals.[4]
The ptyctodontid fishes are the only group of placoderms to display sexual dimorphism, where males have clasping organs and females have smooth pelvic fin bases. It had long been suspected that they reproduced using internal fertilisation, but finding fossilised embryos inside both Materpiscis and in a similar form also from Gogo, Austroptyctodus, proved the inference was true.
See also
Other other important fossil fishes from the Devonian period: