My scientists discovered new fish more than 200 million years ago

Beijing, April 8 (Reporter Wu Yuehui) A few days ago, Xu Guanghui's research team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found a large carnivorous basal stem newfin fish in Panzhou, Guizhou Province, named Panzhou Storm Fish. The Panzhou tyrannosaur is 26 cm long, representing new evidence of the oldest fossil of the family Wartfish, and the first discovery of the genus Tyrannosaurus in Guizhou.

The study found that the Panzhou storm fish evolved a different ecological adaptation from the previously discovered Yunnan storm fish and all other wartfish fish, showing a more "rugged and sharp" side. Functionally, Panzhou storm fish swim slightly slower than other warty fish, but their swimming balance performance is better, which is conducive to movement and predation in complex environments such as submarine rocks and reefs. In terms of feeding habits, Panzhou storm fish are more inclined to prey such as benthic, slow swimming, and hard-shelled gastropods and bivalves.

Basal neofin fish have high biodiversity in the Triassic, which is important fossil evidence for the study of marine ecosystems after the extinction of organisms at the end of the Permian, and wartfish are the largest class of carnivorous basal stem newfin fish in the Triassic. The discovery and study of the Panzhou storm fish has revealed the ecological adaptation diversity of the previously unknown wartfish family, and updated people's understanding of the recovery of marine ecosystems in the Triassic Period.