380 Million Year Old Fishes Found With Unborn Embryos
Friday, June 6, 2008 - 10:35
in Paleontology & Archaeology
Archaeologists have discovered a remarkable 380 million year old fossil placoderm fish with intact embryo and mineralized umbilical cord. The discovery makes the fossil the world's oldest known vertebrate mother. It also provides the earliest evidence of vertebrate sexual reproduction, wherein the males (which possessed clasping organs similar to modern sharks and rays) internally fertilized females.