Researchers at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), in partnership with the National Museum of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), identified the fossil of a new species of prehistoric fish in the Antarctic Peninsula.
The discovery was published on Monday (11) in scientific magazine Nature.
The articulated copy, baptized ANARTICTICHTHYS LONGIPECTORALISlived between 145 and 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.
The fossil is the best preserved ever discovered in the region. He was found in the Snow Hill Island formation, Antarctica, during the expedition of the Paleoantar project, held in the summer of 2018/2019, in an initiative that brought together researchers from various Brazilian specialties and institutions.
Reconstitution
The research process lasted five years, having started with the arrival of the fossil to Brazil and ended with the three -dimensional reconstitution.
The reconstitution of ANARTICTICHTHYS It was performed through microtomography, a technique similar to a medical tomography, which makes it possible to obtain internal images of objects through X -ray without damaging the fossil.
In this process, projections of the object in high resolution that are then digitally integrated, allowing the reconstruction of the tomograms, that is, the “slices” in high resolution of the object.
In total, more than 2,000 fossil tomograms were generated, which served as the basis for modeling the specimen as it was in the Cretaceous period.
The researchers estimate that the fish mediate between 8 and 10 centimeters. THE ANARTICTICHTHYS He had a long head, small body and small neural thorns.
Climate
Biologist Valéria Gallo, a full professor at the UERJ Department of Zoology explains that although still little explored by paleontology, the Antarctic Guarda Fundamental clues about the evolution of life in the southern hemisphere and the historical connections that shaped the current biodiversity of the region.
“The Antarctic continent, today a cold vastness, was once a rich environment in forests and marine life. Discoveries like this revolutionize our understanding of how old ecosystems responded to environmental changes, increasingly relevant knowledge in times of accelerated climate transformations.”
“The presence of this fossil signals that the area of the Antarctic Peninsula probably had a warmer climate and greater biodiversity during the Cretaceous.”
According to UERJ, the study reinforces the importance of flora and fauna fossil analysis that serve as a reference to predict how organisms can react to current global warming, contributing to trace conservation strategies.
