World's oldest heart found: 380 million years old
2World's oldest heart found: 380 million years old
Scientists have found the world's oldest heart in a 380-million-year-old jawed shark fossil in the Kimberley region of Australia. The researchers said the discovery will help shed light on the evolution of living things.
The world's oldest heart was discovered in a 'well-preserved' ancient jawed fish fossil 380 million years old.
Researchers from Curtin University in Australia found a stomach, intestine and liver, as well as a heart, in the animal's fossil, which resembles modern shark anatomy.
The research was conducted by Prof. Dr. "Evolution is often thought of as a series of small steps, but these ancient fossils show a bigger leap between jawless and jawed vertebrates. The hearts of these fish are literally in their mouths and under their gills, just like sharks today," said Kate Trinajstic.
However, the researchers found the fossil in the Gogo Formation, a reef 380 million years ago in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. While the soft tissues of ancient species are rarely preserved, the team was surprised to find that the fossilized organs were still intact.
Co-author of the study, Prof., of Uppsala University. Dr. "What's really exceptional about gogo fish is the preservation of their soft tissues in three dimensions," says Per Ahlberg. "Most cases of soft tissue preservation are found in flat fossils, where the soft anatomy is little more than a speck in rock," he said.
On the other hand, scientists used neutron beams and synchrotron x-rays to scan samples still embedded in limestone. This method allowed the researchers to create 3-D images of the soft tissues inside the fossils.