Many netizens commented after seeing the hot searches that people evolved from apes before, but why do they now say that they evolved from fish? Some netizens asked: "Are I steamed at noon my ancestors?"
"From the current research, the fish found this time lived about 440 million years ago and belonged to jawed fish. They are indeed our ancestors, but they are also the ancestors of most vertebrates, such as the twelve zodiac signs we are familiar with, and their ancestors are also jawed fish. Today, we and the animals in the twelve zodiac signs are equivalent to branches on evolutionary trees. Deriving from the root, the main branch that finally gathers is jawed fish." Zhu Youan, one of the main members of the discovery team, and , associate researcher at the Institute of Vertebral Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters on the afternoon of the 29th.
Zhu You'an introduced that, including humans, 99.8% of the existing vertebrates on the earth have jaws (maxilla and chin). The emergence and rise of jaws are one of the most critical leaps in the history of vertebrates' evolution from "fish to humans". Many important organs and body configurations of humans can be traced back to the beginning of jaws' evolution. Finding the early appearance of jawed fish can help us understand the origin and evolution of human beings.
But for a long time, the beginning of this journey of origin and evolution of jawed fish has been about 30 million years, and our understanding of it is in a complete gap. Zhu Youan said that the research team discovered the "Chongqing Special Buried Fossil Library" and the "Guizhou Shiqian Fossil Library", and the jawed fish fossils found in them filled us with a gap of more than 10 million years.
Zhu Youan said that although among the younger generations of jawfish, including giants such as blue whales and elephants, as well as earth overlords including humans and dinosaurs, jawfish 440 million years ago was less than 3 cm long and still lived in the shadow of the water overlord " sea scorpion " at that time. However, due to its strong evolutionary potential, the jawfish became the top predator of on the earth in a short time from an evolutionary perspective, and established its status as the younger generations, including us humans, and its contribution is worthy of human research and remembering.
The discoverer of human fish ancestors: Netizens steamed and eaten jawed fish, but not our ancestors
In fact, most large animals, including humans, have jaws. The characteristics of jaw bones can be traced back to the early Silurian period about 440 million years ago, when jawed fish first appeared. From this point on, many organs such as teeth, paired nostrils, horizontal semicircular canals of the inner ear, pectoral fins and ventral fins were evolved, including teeth, paired nostrils, horizontal semicircular canals of the inner ear, pectoral fins and ventral fins, which were not previously used by jawless fish . It is these organs that give us the competitive advantage of jaws. Today, 99.8% of the existing vertebrates on Earth are descendants of jawfish.
Regarding the statement that some netizens were worried about steaming their ancestors at noon and ate them, Zhu Youan said that this is of course a joke from netizens. To be honest, the jawed fish discovered this time is very close to the common ancestor of today's fish and humans. This common ancestor looks like a fish, but it has lived for more than 400 million years, and it is not today's fish. Therefore, although the fish steamed by netizens also have jaws, they are not our ancestors. At most, they are distant relatives from far away, so they can be eaten with confidence.
(Beijing Youth Daily)
Editor: Zhao Shanshan
