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Live birth in the Devonian period.

John A Long1, Kate Trinajstic, Gavin C Young

  • 1Museum Victoria, Melbourne, PO Box 666, Melbourne 3001, Australia. jlong@museum.vic.gov.au

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|May 30, 2008
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The oldest live-bearing vertebrate, Materpiscis attenboroughi, reveals placoderm fishes exhibited advanced reproductive strategies. This discovery of internal fertilization and viviparity pushes back the origins of these traits in jawed vertebrates.

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Area of Science:

  • Paleontology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Vertebrate Zoology

Background:

  • Placoderm fishes dominated Middle Palaeozoic vertebrates, but their evolutionary relationships are debated, partly due to reproductive biology uncertainties.
  • Understanding placoderm reproduction is key to resolving their position within jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes).

Observation:

  • A new ptyctodontid placoderm, Materpiscis attenboroughi, from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation, Australia, is described.
  • The exceptionally preserved 3D specimen contains an intra-uterine embryo connected by an umbilical cord, suggesting a yolk sac.

Findings:

  • This represents the oldest known record of a live-bearing vertebrate, dating back approximately 380 million years.
  • Another ptyctodont, Austroptyctodus gardineri, also shows evidence of intra-uterine embryos.
  • These findings confirm advanced reproductive biology, including internal fertilization and viviparity, in placoderms.

Implications:

  • The discovery suggests that internal fertilization and viviparity in vertebrates originated earliest within placoderms.
  • This challenges previous assumptions about the timeline of vertebrate reproductive evolution.
  • Placoderm reproductive strategies were comparable to modern sharks and rays.