|
About | Contact | Mongabay on Facebook | Mongabay on Twitter | Subscribe |
|
|
Blood-sucking lamprey is 360 million years old mongabay.com October 25, 2006 The parasitic blood-sucking lamprey has remained unchanged for 360 million years according to research to be published in the Oct. 26, 2006 issue of the jounral Nature. The discovery of a well-preserved fossil lamprey dating from the Devonian period in an ancient estuary in Grahamstown, South Africa shows that the lamprey is truly a "living fossil".
"This fossil changes how we look at lampreys today," said Dr. Michael Coates, associate professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago. "They're very ancient, very primitive animals, yet with highly specialized feeding habits." Lampreys are primitive fish found primarily in temperate rivers and coastal seas -- their larvae do not survive high water temperatures. Superficially resembling eels, adult lampreys can reach 40 inches (100 cm). Lampreys are known for the toothed, funnel-like mouth which they use to bore into fish to suck their blood. This article is based on a news release from the University of Chicago Medical Center. Recommend this article? Comments? >Digg this article | >Hugg this article | Contact News options
Tags: Evolution green News index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing
|
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 
Photos HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS 
CALENDARS 
CANVAS BAGS 
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright mongabay 2010 Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect, an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region. Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant. |
