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Live birth in the Devonian period

Author

Listed:
  • John A. Long

    (Museum Victoria, Melbourne, PO Box 666, Melbourne 3001, Australia
    Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University
    School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia)

  • Kate Trinajstic

    (School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Western Australia, Australia)

  • Gavin C. Young

    (Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University)

  • Tim Senden

    (Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, The Australian National University)

Abstract

Vertebrate evolution: A live birth in the Devonian The placoderms, now long extinct, were a large and diverse group of fishes, thought to be the most primitive known vertebrates with jaws. Not so primitive, however, that they could not have given birth to live young. A remarkable fossil from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation of Australia, about 380 million years old, represents a new species of placoderm, preserved in the act of giving birth. A single, large embryo is connected to the adult by a mineralized remnant of an umbilical cord. This is the oldest known vertebrate live birth, and reveals reproductive biology comparable to that of some modern sharks and rays.

Suggested Citation

  • John A. Long & Kate Trinajstic & Gavin C. Young & Tim Senden, 2008. "Live birth in the Devonian period," Nature, Nature, vol. 453(7195), pages 650-652, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:453:y:2008:i:7195:d:10.1038_nature06966
    DOI: 10.1038/nature06966
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