Extraordinary fossil discoveries reveal an important link between plate tectonics and extreme evolutionary changes just like that of a well-preserved ' Devonian coelacanth' fish that was just discovered in Western Australia. Such discoveries fill out history gaps and even suggest active processes of evolution in species that have been so very frequently referred to as ' living fossils '. What are living fossils? A living fossil is a species that essentially looks like a species known only from fossils that have remained largely unchanged from earlier geologic times.
The term was originally used by Charles Darwin in his book On the Origin of Species published in 1859. What do evolutionary insights derive from ancient fossils? According to longtime research, it is established that climate change and asteroid impacts both contribute to the formation and extinction of species. However, it is now being discovered in fossil finds that tectonics too, have a role in species evolution.
Ancient primitive 'Devonian coelacanth ' fish were recently brought to the surface in the interior regions of Western Australia that date back to a period of intense tectonic activity ( movements within the Earth's crust). A study published earlier in Nature Communications, reveals excitingly new findings about the history of the evolution of ancient creatures. India’s lone fossil of world’s oldest animal discovered in MP’s Bhimbetka Caves Coelacanths are often known as living fossils, as their li.