This 50-million-year-old fossil, held by a museum in Japan, shows 259 fish swimming in a school —
one of the earliest known examples of coordinated group behavior ever. (Mizumoto et al./Proceedings
of the Royal Society B)
Posted on 05/31/2019 5:37:16 PM PDT by ETL
There's room for all types in a newly described fossil that shows 259 baby fish swimming together in a school, approximately 50 million years ago.
According to the authors of a new study published Wednesday (May 29) in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, this ex-school may be the earliest known fossil evidence that prehistoric fish swam in unison, just as modern fish do today.
A team of Arizona researchers stumbled upon this remarkable rock during a visit to the Oishi Fossils Gallery of Mizuta Memorial Museum in Japan.
Working with the museum, the researchers determined that the fishy fossil probably originated in America's Green River Formation, a geologic stratum in present-day Colorado, Wyoming and Utah that contains a trove of fossils dating to between 53 million and 48 million years ago.
The fish in question all belonged to the extinct species Erismatopterus levatus, and were apparently entombed together in the midst of a routine swim that may have been cut short by an underwater avalanche of sand, the researchers wrote.
All but two of the wee specimens were swimming in the same direction and in a close-knit formation.
To prove that the fish were indeed swimming in a school and not just fossilized that way by coincidence, the researchers ran a series of simulations to reproduce the group's likely movements.
The simulations showed that the fish were apparently not only swimming in unison, but also did so according to a timeless set of behavioral rules that still show up today.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Live as one, die as one.
It takes a village.
Fish don’t have villages.
So, what were those two that were swimming in the opposite direction up to?
Deserters?
Do you remember the Woody Allen movie where the guys were lined up anticipating a get together with an egg/ Those aren’t fish.
50-million-year-old school of baby fish ping!
Baby shark doo doo da doo....
Schools?
I see some writing there.
Something about a dam, and a meadow, and an itty bitty pool.
Yeah, the mama fish is saying to the baby fish “Swim if you can!”
OK, now put the bottle down and go to bed. Don't forget, you have to get up early for work tomorrow.
:)
Must have been a government school. They’re dangerous to babies.
Baby fossil doo doo, baby fossil doo doo
  Justice Rutabaga Ginbag |
No point in applying for the job of fish squeezer.
It was in a Monster.com radio spot.
Unmutual.
Ha I’m on leave with my newborn (2 months old yesterday) and sober! I also have a 3 year old who is very fond of the baby shark song
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