Year-ender: China's sci-tech achievements in 2022
Fish fossils found in China rewrite evolutionary history
According to four articles published in the journal Nature on Sept 28, Chinese researchers reported finding fish fossils that provided the "missing link" about the origin of the jaw, a key trait that gave rise to 99.8 percent of all vertebrate species living on Earth today, from giant whales to humans.
The well-preserved fish fossils, dating back to the early Silurian Period, were discovered in Chongqing municipality and Guizhou province respectively by a team led by Zhu Min, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, over the past decade.
The fossils include five new species of ancient fish, and among them are the oldest-known jawed vertebrates with teeth, which is significant. The crucial discoveries could rewrite the evolutionary story of how humans evolved from fish.
