Early traces of sexual reproduction found in a fossil

2009/04/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Paleontologia
• Arkeologia

Covering organs have been found in the fossil of a placoderm. The team of Australian scientists carrying out the research considers that the discovery is the trace of the first steps of internal reproduction and states that the viviparous, the animals that develop the offspring within the mother, were more widespread than previously thought.

The discovery was made by a team of researchers from the University of Western Australia, the Natural History Museum of London and the Victoria Museum. It has been shown that the extinct Incisoscutum ritchi, a species of placoderm, on the pelvic waist, had a long articulated cartilage attached. They believe that these sex organs were covered like sharks.

The placodermos are fish with jaws that lived 420-350 million years ago. In 2008, Australian scientists found a placoderm of 375 million years. Inside it housed the embryo and associated navel. This discovery placed the beginning of internal reproduction at that time. The last finding has clarified how they made reproduction.