Skip to main content

Ngamugawi wirnagarri reveals evolution of coelacanth fish and history of life on earth

Ngamugawi wirnagarri reveals evolution of coelacanth fish and history of life on earth 1

NEWS - An ancient Devonian coelacanth has been remarkably well preserved in a remote location in Western Australia linked to increased tectonic activity. An international team of researchers analysed fossils of the primitive fish from the Gogo Formation of Ngamugawi wirngarri, which straddles a key transition period in the history of coelacanths, between the most primitive and more modern forms.

The new fish species adds to the evidence for Earth’s evolutionary journey. Climate change, asteroid strikes and plate tectonics are all key subjects in the origins and extinctions of animals that played a major role in evolution. Is the world’s oldest ‘living fossil’ the coelacanth still evolving?

“We found that plate tectonic activity had a major influence on the rate of coelacanth evolution. New species are more likely to have evolved during periods of increased tectonic activity when new habitats were divided and created,” says Alice Clement of Flinders University in Adelaide.

The Late Devonian Gogo Formation contains a particularly well-preserved collection of fish and invertebrate fossils. Fossils from the Devonian Period (359-419 million years ago) provide important insights into the early anatomy of this lineage and the evolution that led to humans.

“Over 35 years, we have recovered some of the most beautifully preserved 3D fossils from the Gogo site and have made many important discoveries, including mineralised soft tissue and the origins of complex sexual reproduction in vertebrates,” said John Long from Flinders University.

Much of human anatomy dates back to the Early Palaeozoic (540-350 million years ago). Jaws, teeth, a ossified skull, genitals, a chambered heart and paired lungs appeared in early fish. The Gogo Formation is an ancient tropical reef that was home to more than 50 species of fish 380 million years ago, now covered by dry rock.

“We calculated the rate of evolution over 410 million years. The evolution of coelacanths has slowed dramatically since the time of the dinosaurs, with some interesting exceptions,” Long said.

Coelacanths are deep-sea fish that live off the coast of East Africa and Indonesia and can grow up to 2 metres (6.6 feet) long. These lobe-finned fish have strong bones in their fins that are similar to the bones in a human arm. They are thought to be more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods than to most other fish.

Ngamugawi wirnagarri reveals evolution of coelacanth fish and history of life on earth 2


Over the past 410 million years, there are more than 175 species of coelacanths worldwide. During the Mesozoic Era, the age of the dinosaurs, coelacanths diversified significantly, with some species developing unusual body shapes. However, by the end of the Cretaceous Period (66 million years ago) they mysteriously disappeared from the fossil record.

The end-Cretaceous extinction event, triggered by a large asteroid impact, wiped out 75% of all life on Earth, including all non-avian dinosaurs. Coelacanths were also wiped out as victims of the same mass extinction event.

But in 1938, fishermen off the coast of South Africa unearthed a mysterious giant fish from the depths of the ocean, and it has since gained cult status in the world of evolutionary biology. New research challenges the idea that living coelacanths are the oldest living fossils.

“Coelacanths first appear in the geological record more than 410 million years ago, with isolated fossils from places like China and Australia. However, most early forms are poorly known. Ngamugawi wirngarri fills that gap,” says Richard Cloutier of the Université du Québec à Rimouski.

Original research

Clement, A.M., Cloutier, R., Lee, M.S.Y. et al. A Late Devonian coelacanth reconfigures actinistian phylogeny, disparity, and evolutionary dynamics. Nature Communications 15, 7529 (2024), DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-51238-4

Popular Posts

Javan broadhead planarian (Bipalium javanum)

Cacing palu or Javan broadhead planarian ( Bipalium javanum ) is a species of animal in Geoplanidae, hermaphrodite, living on the ground, predators, often called only hammerhead or broadhead or shovel worms because of wide heads and simple copulatory organs. B. javanum has a slim stature, up to 20 cm long, up to 0.5 cm wide, head wide up to 1 cm or less, small neck, widening in the middle and the back end is rounded, all black and shiny. Javan broadhead planarians walk above ground level by raising their heads and actively looking left, right and looking up using strong neck muscles. Move swiftly, track meander, climb to get through all obstacles or make a new path if the obstacle is too high. Cacing palu track and prey on earthworms and mollusks. They use muscles and sticky secretions to attach themselves to prey to lock in. The head and ends of the body are wrapped around and continue to close the body to stop prey reactions. They produce tetrodotoxins which are very strong...

Thomas Sutikna lives with Homo floresiensis

BLOG - On October 28, 2004, a paper was published in Nature describing the dwarf hominin we know today as Homo floresiensis that has shocked the world. The report changed the geographical landscape of early humans that previously stated that the Pleistocene Asia was only represented by two species, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens . The report titled "A new small-bodied hominin from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia" written by Peter Brown and Mike J. Morwood from the University of New England with Thomas Sutikna, Raden Pandji Soejono, Jatmiko, E. Wahyu Saptomo and Rokus Awe Due from the National Archaeology Research Institute (ARKENAS), Indonesia, presents more diversity in the genus Homo. “Immediately, my fever vanished. I couldn’t sleep well that night. I couldn’t wait for sunrise. In the early morning we went to the site, and when we arrived in the cave, I didn’t say a thing because both my mind and heart couldn’t handle this incredible moment. I just went down...

Swietenia mahagoni and Swietenia macrophylla, the differences

SPECIES HEAD TO HEAD - To date, mahogany ( Swietenia Jacq.) is recorded as having four species: West Indian mahogany or small-leaved mahogany ( Swietenia mahagoni (L.) Jacq.), big-leaf mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla King), Honduran mahogany ( Swietenia humilis Zucc.) and Swietenia × aubrevilleana Stehlé & Cusin. The debate over the number of taxa in the genus is still not resolved. Some researchers believe that there are only two species: S. mahagoni and S. macrophylla . I agree with that opinion and the two species can only be differentiated by the size of the leaves. All species in this genus have similar morphology except for leaf size. The following is the key to identifying these two species. S. mahagoni has a stalk length of around 37 cm with 5-6 pairs of strands. The strands are about 10 cm long and about 3.5 cm wide. S. macrophylla has a stalk length of up to 45 cm with 4-5 pairs of strands. The strands are up to 31 cm long and up to 8 cm wide. By Aryo Bando...