The Earliest Known Coelacanth Discovered in Africa is 360 Million Years Old

Researchers may have found specimens of Africa's earliest known coelacanth. The creature is dated to be about 360 million years old, and was discovered in South Africa's Eastern Cape.

More than 30 complete specimens of the new fossil species, Serenichthys kowiensis, were collected from the famous Late Devonian aged Waterloo Farm locality.

"Remarkably, all of the delicate whole fish impressions represent juveniles," said Robert Gess, one of the researchers, in a news release. "This suggests that Serenichthys was using a shallow, waterweed-filled embayment of the estuary as a nursery, as many fish do today."

In fact, the new fossils represent the earliest known record of a coelacanth nursery. During this time period, Africa was part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, which was made up of Africa, India, Australia, Antarctica and South America. At that time, ,the rocks of Waterloo Farm were forming along the shores of the semi-enclosed Agulhas Sea, not far from the South Pole.

"This glimpse into the early life history of ancient coelacanths raises further questions about the life history of the modern coelacanth, Latimeria, which is known to bear live young, but whether they, too, are clustered in nurseries remains unknown."

The findings reveal a bit more about coelacanths, which are thought to have arisen during the Devonian period, about 420 million years ago. This, in turn, tells scientists a bit more about the evolutionary history of this species.

The findings are published in the journal Zoological Journal of the Linnaean Society.

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