Researchers have discovered a heart of a 380 million years old fish in Australia. A fossilized stomach, an intestine and a liver were also found during the exploration. The findings are thought to provide new perceptions to biological evolution.
Kate Trinajstic, the lead researcher, stated that the soft tissues of ancient species are rarely preserved, and usually unfavorable for 3D modelling. “As a palaeontologist who has studied fossils for more than 20 years, I was truly amazed to find a 3D and beautifully preserved heart in a 380-million-year-old ancestor,” says Trinajstic.
It has never before been possible to create a 3D model of a two chambered and s-shaped heart in an arthrodire, which is an extinct species that lived at least 358.9 million years ago.