An international group of scientists from the USA and China, led by experts from Yale University, found that spearfish have the slowest rate of evolution of all jawed vertebrates on our planet. These predatory fish have remained virtually unchanged since their origins in the Jurassic period 150 million years ago. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Evolution.
The researchers used computer analysis to examine the gene sequences preserved from common ancestors and reveal the rate of DNA change, or mutation, over time.
According to experts, the pike fish is the best example of what are called living fossils. Living fossils are organisms that share common origins with extinct lineages and differ little from their ancient relatives.
The low rate of regeneration in this group of fish corresponds to a low rate of emergence of new species. The pike evolved so slowly that two species separated by 100 million years of evolution can still mate.
By comparison, the evolutionary lineages of humans and wombats also diverged about 100 million years ago.
Scientists stated that pike have been able to evolve unchanged for more than 150 million years due to some mechanisms underlying low levels of gene change. It probably has something to do with DNA repair.
It has also been revealed that some animals, such as the coelacanth fish and the tropical bird hoatzin, which are considered living fossils, are significantly different from their fossil ancestors, although they have preserved many of their features.
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