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Article: Fossils flesh out early vertebrates.
- Article from:
- Science News
- Article date:
- January 9, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1988 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Fossils flesh out early vertebrates
The oldest known vertebrates, a collection of remarkably well-preserved remains of 30 jawless fish, have been discovered by an international team of paleontologists in the mountains of southern Bolivia, according to an announcement last week by the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C., which funded the expedition.
The fossils were embedded in large stone slabs that date to about 470 million years ago, when much of present-day Bolivia was covered by ocean. At least 10 of the specimens are virtually complete, with even the tail sections intact, says expedition director Philippe Janvier of the French National ...