William Atkins
Thursday, 10 July 2008 22:12
Science -
Biology
Page 2 of 3
Dr. Friedman studied fossils that were found in storage in two European museums.
Each fossile was about 45 to 50 million years old. Friedman examined fossils of a new species of flatfish in the Natural History Museum in Vienna, Italy. The new species is called
Heteronectes chaneti (“different swimmer”) by Friedman.
In the Heteronectes species, Friedman explained,
“When I first noticed the fossil, it was sitting unidentified in a drawer of indeterminate fossil fish pieces from Monte Bolca [in Italy]. And believe me, it didn’t look like much at the time — it was an incomplete specimen covered with dust and soot." [Nature News]
The other species was previously already named Amphistium. It was found in the Natural History Museum in London, England.
The Amphistium species was previously recorded as having a symmetrical skull and a “flatfish-like” appearance, being distorted about the eyes but with the distortion thought to be caused by the fossilization process.
However, Friedman looked more closely to find that one eye was located just slightly off from where it should--if it had a totally symmetrical head. Thus, Friedman used computed tomography (CT) scans to verify what he saw.
He found that the one eye had begun to move but had not yet moved to the middle of the head. He exclaimed "
It's not quite in the Cyclops position,” referring to a member of a primordial race of giants, in Greek mythology, with a single eye in the middle of its forehead.
In this position, Friedman says that the species did not lie flat on the seabed but propped itself up with its fins. Friedman proposes that after the fish found this slightly propped positionto be good for finding food it evolved further.
However, Friedman cautions about the use of assumptions,
"Our inability to imagine is what got us into this predicament.” [Reuters: “
Fish fossils plug hole in evolutionary theory”]
What are the conclusions of the Friedman study and why is it important to the
theory of natural selection (evolution) as first proposed by Charles Darwin? Please read page three.
