How our ears evolved from the gills of 400-million-year old fish

How our ears evolved from the gills of 400-million-year old fish

Source: SYFY WIRE

6/20/2022

Credit: Zhikun Gai et al

In the 1995 film Waterworld, severe climate change has caused global changes to the Earth’s surface, forcing humans to live on boats or floating cities and scrape out a living on the high seas. It also drove evolution in at least some humans, as evidenced by the Mariner’s gills, tucked neatly behind his ears. Audiences may have found that unbelievable, but it might not have been as impossible as it seems.

If you trace our evolutionary lineage far enough into the past, humans and all other land-living vertebrates will find primitive fish as their many-great grandparents. Of course, there are millions of years of evolution standing between our gilled ancestors and ourselves, and it’s highly unlikely we’d adapt them again on so short a timescale, but the positioning behind the ears might have been right on the money.

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
3301	World's most expensive fish that can rake in millions spotted off the UK coast	dailystar	2021-10-24	UK
3302	How does this fish keep its 500 teeth nice and sharp? Scientists have the answer	CBC Radio	2021-11-04	CA
3303	A Q&A with Mark Spitzer, renowned expert on fugly fish	4state news	2021-10-25	US
3304	This odd Colorado River fish faces an uncertain future	nationalgeographic	2021-10-18	US
3305	Norway reveals plans for river trap system to protect wild salmon	theguardian	2021-10-21	NO
3306	Magnet Fishing, a Pandemic Craze, Is Now Creating Trash Problems	wsj	2021-10-17	DE
3307	'Stunned' researchers rescue 4,000-pound sunfish from net	usatoday	2021-10-19	US
3308	Tongue-eating creature found inside fish at Texas state park is the stuff of nightmares	ksat	2021-10-20	US
3309	After 19 fishing deaths in Texas, officials are offering tips for anglers to stay safe	mysanantonio	2021-10-22	US
3310	Algae-purified wastewater used to raise fish	newatlas	2021-10-21	CN
3311	Fly fish angler reels in potential world-record blue catfish in Texas river	ksat	2021-10-21	US
3312	Would you quit your job for $110,000? This California swordfish catcher said no	latimes	2021-10-15	US
3313	Fish farmers 'should face penalties and even criminal charges for mass escapes'	heraldscotland	2021-10-16	UK
3314	Fishing without hooks, rods, reels: This old method still works	The Post and Courier	2021-10-17	US
3315	NJ angler sets new fishing record in landlocked reservoir	Fox News	2021-10-29	US
3316	After poll, lawmakers will propose Lake Erie favorite as Ohio’s state fish	wkbn	2021-10-14	US
3317	Mystery beast with no eyes, ears or mouth stuns diver in depths of the Red Sea	mirror	2021-10-15	EG
3318	U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka cited for fishing without commercial crew license	adn	2021-10-08	US
3319	Parks Commission expands coastal wetland restoration to Boyer’s Creek	Niagara This Week	2019-02-19	CA
3320	Now properly classified, this tiny, translucent fish could help unlock our brains’ secrets	Texas Standard	2021-10-05	US
3321	Fishing record revoked in Connecticut	fox	2021-09-29	US
3322	Fisherman breaks nearly 30-year-old record in Florida	foxnews	2021-10-12	US
3323	Alligator gar caught in Kansas for the first time ever	foxnews	2021-10-13	US
3324	Rare fish, last spotted in Ohio creek in 1957, declared extinct	yahoo	2021-10-06	US
3325	Who or what is killing the bass in Green Lake?	Star Tribune	2021-10-06	US

132 of [218 - pages.]