Evolution of fish
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Fish began evolving about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first crani
Lamprey mouth
†Spiny sharks (extinct) were the earliest known jawed fish. They resembled sharks and were ancestral to them.
Dunkleosteus skull steveoc
Dunkleosteus Sannoble
Fish fin
Videos
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and lift, which help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct
Skeleton of a lingcod, a ray-finned fish
Lobe-finned fishes, like this coelacanth, have fins that are borne on a fleshy, lobe-like, scaly stalk extending from the body. Due to the high number of fins it possesses, the coelacanth has high manoeuvrability and can orient its body in almost any direction in the water.
Pectoral fin with fleshy lobe of Latimeria chalumnae (Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0)
Skeleton of the pectoral girdle and fin of the extant coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae (Citron / CC-BY-SA-3.0)