Ecological restoration map of Yuhai winged hornfish. Yang Dinghua drawing
The reporter learned on November 1 from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Paleovertebrate Paleontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) that four generations of paleoichthyologists in the institute have passed on the torch and relayed research for 30 years, and the latest in-depth study of the new fossil material of the armor fish "Jade Sea Winged Hornfish" produced in Qujing, Yunnan, about 410 million years ago, finally made the full picture of the Yuhai Winged Horned Fish completely presented, and filled the gap in the anatomical information of armored fish.
Restoration of the Yuhai winged hornfish. Photo by Guo Xiaocong
This important paper on the evolution of ancient fish was recently published online in the international professional academic journal "The Anatomical Record".
Gai Zhikun, the corresponding author of the paper and researcher at the Institute of Paleospine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that through the research and analysis of 16 newly discovered fossil specimens of the Yuhai winged horned fish collected in the "ancient fish kingdom", the position relationship between the esophagus and the dorsal aortic artery of armor fish was revealed for the first time, and the asymmetry of the dorsal aorta and esophagus drifting of lamprey and osteocarabinal fish to the right was solved. The results of this study not only fill the gap in the anatomical information of armoured fish, but also help to understand the internal anatomy of armoured fish, but also have important significance for exploring the phylogenetic relationship between lampreys, armoured fishes, osteocarab fish and jawed vertebrates, and understanding the origin and evolution of key features of jaws.
Phylogenetic relationships and geohistorical distribution of armoured fishes. Courtesy of the Institute of Paleovertebrae, Chinese Academy of Sciences
According to Meng Xinyuan, the first author of the paper and a graduate of the Institute of Paleospine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who went to study in the UK, the 16 new specimens of Yuhai Pterygoid fossils in this study are the results of the research team's field investigations on the fossil site of Xujiachong Formation in Xujiachong Village, Qujing, Yunnan Province since 2018, and preserve many new morphological information of Yuhai Winghornfish, including the serrated edge of the head between the horn and the inner horn, the remnants of the middle transverse contact tube, the gourd-shaped mouth gill window, and six pairs of gill sacs.
Fossil photo of the Yuhai winged hornfish. Photo by Gai Zhikun
The results of the new phylogenetic analysis of armoured fish show that the genus Pterodactylus, the genus Tricarius and the genus Sickle are more closely related, and they constitute a monophyletic taxa of the three-pointed fish, while the genus Euarmoured fish, Xitun Fish and the shield fish genus constitute another monophyletic taxa of the genus Euarmoured fish, which occupy different morphological spaces.
The evolution of some key features in chordates. Meng Xinyuan drawing
In the past, due to the limitations of preservation and fossil scarcity, little was known about the ventral surface and internal anatomical features of armor fish, but the new specimen of Yuhai pterygoid clearly preserved the key morphological information of the ventral surface, and was the first key fossil to clearly reveal the relationship between the position of the esophagus and the dorsal aorta. At the same time, the study of the new fossil specimen of the Yuhai winged hornfish also compared the internal anatomy of the armor fish with the bone armor fish, the living jawless lamprey and the jawed cartilaginous fish, and reorganized the common descendant traits of lamprey, armoured fish, bone armor fish and jawed fish.
2018 Yuhai Winged Hornfish Field Excavation and Collection Site. Photo by Gai Zhikun
Gai Zhikun said that in the early 90s of the 20th century, his teacher Academician Zhu Min studied under Academician Zhang Miman who had just obtained a doctorate, and when conducting field geological surveys in the Qujing area of Yunnan, the fossils of the Yuhai Winged Hornfish were first discovered, and in 1992, the research results were published and officially named the Yuhai Winged Hornfish, the genus name indicates that it has a pair of wing-like horns extending laterally, and the species name was given to Mr. Liu Yuhai, the founder of armor fish research, but unfortunately there was only one specimen at that time, and the morphological characteristics of the ventral surface of the skull were not preserved.
Fossil photo of the Yuhai winged hornfish. Photo by Gai Zhikun
In 2018, the Institute of Paleospine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Qujing Normal University jointly established the Natural History and Culture Research Center led by Academician Zhu Min to strengthen the excavation and protection of Qujing ancient fish fossils, and continued to carry out field excavation and collection work at the fossil site where the Yuhai Winghorned Fish was first discovered 30 years ago, and a large number of early vertebrate fossils, including 16 new specimens of the Yuhai Winghorned Fish, were found in the fossil layer, and through long-term in-depth research and analysis, this important result was obtained and published.
In 1987, the International Symposium on Early Vertebrates was held in China, and Mr. Liu Yuhai (first from right) took a group photo with Chinese and foreign experts. Photo courtesy of Gavin Young (Australia).
It is understood that paleoichthyologist Liu Yuhai was born in Tengzhou, Shandong in 1935, graduated from Nankai University in September 1957 and worked at the Institute of Paleospine of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with Zhang Miman, Wang Junqing, Wang Nianzhong, Zhang Guorui, Liu Shifan, etc., became the first batch of scholars engaged in the study of Devonian paleofish in New China, and was respected as the "Six Gentlemen of the Devonian Period". In the early 60s of the 20th century, Liu Yuhai carried out field work in the Devonian system of Qujing, Yunnan, and made the first systematic paleontological description of the armor fish found in China, known as "the first person in armor fish research". In March 2022, Mr. Liu Yuhai passed away in Beijing.
(China News Network)