We know that we are related to sea creatures. Finding which ones are close ancestors is the problem. Dr Garcia-Bellido holds that odd-looking fossils of Nesonektris had cartilage which has the same structure as the "tails" of human embryos.
Muscles latch on to notochord cartilage. Findings have been published in BMC Evolutionary Biology by universities of Adelaide and South Australia with the South Australian Museum. The University of New England also took part in the research.
The source of the 500 million year old fossil is Kangaroo Island. This region has some of the world's richest fossil beds. vetulicolians lived in the Cambrian period and were filter feeders. Their cartilaged-tails were used for propulsion. This type of connections with humans had been overlooked in the past.
✴ Evolution by Ty Buchanan ✴
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