Paleontologists from the University of Pennsylvania, examined the remains of the species Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri age about 300 million years and build a 3D model. Although this fish is very similar to the sturgeon, the authors showed that these families evolved independently from each other. The corresponding article was published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.
The first fossil of the genus Tanyrhinichthys paleontologists found in 1984 in a rich fossil area near Albuquerque. According to the researchers, many modern species of fish, from swordfish to fish sails, have an elongated muzzle. Such a structure of the head helps the fish to hunt. However, the ancient fish, the feature is much rarer. When the researchers only described Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri, they suggested that it resembled sturgeon.
However, over the last decade in the same place, scientists have discovered several instances Tanyrhinichthys. This allowed to shed light on the true form of this ancient animal. The authors of the new study analyzed the fossil of this fish and several other animals that lived in the same period of time. Using data about the anatomy of the modern fish, the researchers were able to build a 3D model of a fossil Tanyrhinichthys mcallisteri. This species had an elongated muzzle, which allowed the fish to attack the prey without losing the overview.
The researchers noted that many of the species living in similar conditions, also had such long faces. Despite this, other features of the morphology of a variety of ancient fish was so different from Tanyrhinichthys that they most likely are not relatives. While scientists have shown that modern sturgeon do not occur from Tanyrhinichthys. Long snouts, apparently, are an example of convergent evolution.
