What a great story that of evolution! Nothing could have predicted that a competition of circumstances in the oceans could have allowed life to develop and explode everywhere on planet Earth. Every day, looking in our very distant past, we find evidence that allow us to know how all the species we know have evolved. Including us! In this sense, according to a study published on February 25, 2025 in Plos Biologyif our articulations are so well developed, we should thank, among other things, a fish that lived 380 million years ago.
More specifically, many actions that we carry out today are possible thanks to synovial articulations. These present, between the bones which are articulated between them, a space, the joint cavity, which grants the individual who is endowed, a significant mobility and to achieve a large part of his movements.
In other words, without these joints, we would not be better than playmobil. And if we go up the time, long before the appearance of dinosaurs, at the very moment when life ended up getting out of the water, we can find the animal thanks to which we would be in possession of these incredible masterpieces: a fish responding to the name of Bothriolepis.
Besides, we are talking about us, humans, but all terrestrial vertebrates with synovial joints can also say thank you.
A fish at the origin of these masterpieces
It seems difficult to believe at first. And yet. To arrive at this conclusion, Neelima Sharma, a researcher from the University of Chicago, and his team therefore conducted experiences on modern fish:
- A jaw without jaw: a lamprey
- And two cartilaginous fish that have one: a bamboo shark and a small line
And the results are fairly ambiguous. The cartilaginous fish are in possession of these synovial joints, when the lamprey does not have them.
In other words, and in order to connect, our knees and our elbows with a fish old 380 million years old, the researchers therefore concluded that the synovial joints have developed only in vertebrates with a jaw.
So, when you plunge your gaze into the blue of the ocean and you will come across a shark, you could therefore be in the presence of a very (very very) distant cousin.
Source : Physical
With an unwavering passion for local news, Christopher leads our editorial team with integrity and dedication. With over 20 years’ experience, he is the backbone of Wouldsayso, ensuring that we stay true to our mission to inform.
