BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have
found a rare fossil of a lamprey eel dating from the Cretaceous period more than
100 million years ago, in north China's Inner Mongolia.
Lamprey fossil is a species which has lived on earth
for more than 300 million years. This is the first time a lamprey fossil was
found in the Mesozoic stratum in Europe or Asia and in a freshwater environment,
said Zhang Miman, a scientist with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and
Paleo anthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The new finding was published in the latest issue of
the academic journal Nature on Thursday.
Zhang, also an academician of CAS, said the
fossilized lamprey came from the Jehol biota, an ancient fresh water lake where
a numerous fossils such as birds, dinosaurs, mammals, reptiles, fish, insects
and plants have been found.
This is the oldest vertebrate fossil discovered at
Jehol biota, according to Zhou Zhonghe, a leading scientist on the research team
at Jehol biota from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Lamprey eels live today in freshwater and along cold
and temporal coastal zones. Lampreys are parasitic vertebrates that feed off the
flesh of other animals and they have lived for more than 300 million years that
have left few fossilized remains.
Only two other fossils of lamprey species have been
identified and they were from North America.
The lamprey fossil found in China is well preserved
and 200 million years "younger" than the lamprey fossils found in North America,
said Zhang Miman.
"The fossil shows that the lamprey has undergone
almost no evolution over the past 100 million years," Zhang said.
The new discovery will help bridge the gap between
the 300 million year old lamprey fossils and their more recent relatives. "It
will also add to our knowledge of evolutionary history," she added.
Scientist Zhang Jiangyong said the fossil record of
the lamprey is full of mystery. He wonders how the lamprey managed to survive
several mass extinction events that occurred 250 million years and 65 million
years ago and killed off the dinosaurs.
Scientists are also curious about how the lamprey has
remained virtually unchanged for the last 300 million years during which time
humans evolved from apes. "These are questions scientists are eager to answer,"
Zhang Jiangyong said. Enditem
