Paleontologists have refuted the theory of the origin of all vertebrates, it turned out that their ancestor could be invertebrate shell fish.
According to the generally accepted theory of the origin of vertebrates, the blind filtering larvae of modern lampreys, ammocetes, serve as a prototype for the early stage of their development.
Its reliability was called into question after paleontologists discovered in the sediments of the Carboniferous period in South Africa and the United States, lamprey fossils from 310 to 360 million years old.
All stages of the development of ancient animals were presented there – from newly hatched fry, barely reaching 15 millimeters in length and not yet deprived of their yolk sac, to adults. It turned out that the ancient lampreys, which, unlike their modern counterparts, lived in the sea and not in fresh water, did not go through the stage of ammocetes.
Modern lamprey larvae have been used as a model for the hereditary condition that led to the emergence of the vertebrate lineage. They seemed primitive enough, comparable to worm-like invertebrates, and their qualities corresponded to the hypothesized description of rudimentary forms dating back to the beginning of vertebrate evolution. But now we have practically excluded lampreys from the ancestors of vertebrates. Now we need an alternative.
Tetsuto Miyashita, lead author of the study
On only an alternative common ancestor, in the opinion of the authors of the work, is the armored jawless fish of the ostrocoderm. They can now be seen as the root element of the vertebrate family tree.
