Ancient armored fish that narrowly avoided meteorite strike reveals life before Earth's largest mass extinction
A rare fossil discovered near South America's largest known meteorite crater has been named a new species. Initially mistaken for a frog by locals, Leolepis matogrossensis is actually a species of ancient ray-finned fish—the group that includes 96% of all bony fishes living today, including tuna, salmon and cod. It's a fairly primitive member of the group and lived around 254 million years ago.
A recently discovered fossil named Leolepis matogrossensis has shed light on the life of ancient ray-finned fish before Earth's largest mass extinction. Initially misidentified as a frog by locals, this 15-centimeter-long fish was actually a primitive member of today's dominant bony fish group, which includes species like tuna, salmon, and cod.
The 254-million-year-old fish lived in a megalake created by an inland sea during the supercontinent Gondwana's formation. Its armor-like scales, composed of dentine and enamel, differed from the thin, flexible scales of modern ray-finned fishes. The fossil is remarkably complete, considering the impact of a 3-kilometer-wide asteroid on the nearby rocks around 252 million years ago during the end-Permian mass extinction, when up to 95% of marine species perished. The find opens the possibility of more fossils waiting to be discovered in South America.
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