If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)

Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Protoanguilla, the new Coelacanth?

Adam Khor · 2011-08-19 00:21:13

It is already being called the greatest ichthyological discovery since the coelacanth. Protoanguilla palau, which, as its name implies, is an eel that lives in Palau, seems to have existed for about 200 million years (since the Early Jurassic period), making it a "living fossil"- even though fossils of this genus are…

19-08-2011 12:21am

#1

Adam Khor

Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,279 ✭✭✭

Join Date: March 2011

Posts: 3885

It is already being called the greatest ichthyological discovery since the coelacanth.
Protoanguilla palau, which, as its name implies, is an eel that lives in Palau, seems to have existed for about 200 million years (since the Early Jurassic period), making it a "living fossil"- even though fossils of this genus are unknown (its age was calculated with genetic studies).
Most of its physical characteristics are more primitive than those of other living eels; but it also has physical characteristics more primitive than those of the oldest extinct eels!
This all makes Protoanguilla a living treasure, which may reveal a lot about the evolution of eels, which due to a fragmentary fossil record is not very well understood.

4