'A Completely Different Story': 300 Million-Year-Old Fossils Reveal the First Vertebrate Land Dwellers Weren't What We Thought, Researchers Claim
Fossilized baby embolomeres lacked external gills, suggesting early tetrapods did not undergo amphibian-like metamorphosis, researchers said.
- On Thursday, a study published in the journal Science revealed that early tetrapods known as embolomeres skipped the tadpole stage, growing into larger versions of themselves rather than undergoing metamorphosis.
- Evolutionary theory previously assumed early land-dwelling vertebrates utilized a tadpole-like larval stage to transition from water to land; Mann and Pardo argue this simplified biological model is incorrect.
- The research team analyzed rare, well-preserved embolomere hatchlings from Mazon Creek, Illinois, a fossil site about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, which lacked external gills and tadpole-like features.
- By examining other lineages like megalichthyid fish and aistopods, researchers confirmed direct development was consistent across ancestral groups, offering reproductive advantages to early tetrapods.
- These findings suggest early tetrapods were less like amphibians and more like modern humans in their life cycles, upending decades of conventional wisdom about how land-dwelling animals evolved.
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These 300-million-year-old baby fossils just turned a major evolution theory upside down
Ancient fossilized babies of crocodile-like predators are rewriting evolutionary history. Previously, scientists believed early land animals hatched, underwent a tadpole phase, and then transformed, much like modern amphibians. However, new discoveries reveal these early tetrapods skipped the tadpole stage, suggesting their life cycles were more akin to fish or mammals, fundamentally altering our understanding of how life conquered land.
'A completely different story': 300 million-year-old fossils reveal the first vertebrate land dwellers weren't what we thought, researchers claim
Our ancient four-legged ancestors didn't have an amphibian-like life cycle when they began walking on land, according to a new study of rare fossils found near Chicago.
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Iraq news, the latest Iraq news by Iraqi News…Fossils challenge assumptions on how animals adapted to land
NEW YORK — Scientists have long posited the earliest water animals to transition to land had amphibious tadpole features, going through a metamorphosis akin to that of today's frogs.
Earth’s First Land Animals May Never Have Been Amphibian-Like After All
Paleontologists from the Field Museum of Natural History have described the fossilized remains of baby embolomeres, crocodile-like predators that prowled ancient rivers and swamps between 350 and 280 million years ago. The post Earth’s First Land Animals May Never Have Been Amphibian-Like After All appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.
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