Guiyu, the oldest bony fish
A 419-million-year-old fish from China is the earliest complete skeleton of the group we belong to.
- When
- Known to
- ± 2 million years
- Era
- Silurian, Paleozoic
Guiyu oneiros, found in Yunnan in late Silurian marine strata, is the oldest articulated bony fish known. It combines features of both ray-finned and lobe-finned fish while sitting closer to the lobe-fins, and its mosaic anatomy has reshaped understanding of how the osteichthyan body plan assembled. Its name means 'ghost fish dream'.