A yellow-orange, translucent artist's rendition of a yunnanozoan, an ancient wormlike fish, that highlights the arches that make up its cartilage skeleton.

This Simple Fish May Have Been One of the First Vertebrates

A fossil analysis suggests that the yunnanozoan, a wormlike fish that flourished around 520 million years ago, sported structures that were the precursors of the head and jaws of modern vertebrates.

This Simple Fish May Have Been One of the First Vertebrates

A fossil analysis suggests that the yunnanozoan, a wormlike fish that flourished around 520 million years ago, sported structures that were the precursors of the head and jaws of modern vertebrates.

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Cambrian period

Cambrian period

An artist's rendering of the ancient arthropod Erratus sperare

Anatomical Firsts in Early Arthropods

Clare Watson | Jun 1, 2022 | 2 min read

A team of scientists have discovered an ancient arthropod that may show the origins of branched limbs and the first gill-like breathing structures in the clade.

Image of the Day: Fossil Guts

The Scientist Staff | Sep 25, 2017 | 1 min read

Scientists unearthed an intact, fossilized digestive organ of a 500-million-year-old trilobite—a prehistoric relative of the horseshoe crab.