X-ray imaging meets palaeontology: fresh insights into the rise of ray-finned fishes

Dr Sam Giles

Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellow and Senior Research Fellow. School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham

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Animals with backbones (vertebrates) have an evolutionary history of nearly half a billion years, with fossils instrumental in understanding how the group became so hugely successful.

Jawed bony fishes account for 99% of living vertebrate species. Over half of these are ray-finned fishes: staples of the aquarium and fishmonger, encompassing everything from goldfish to seahorses to cod. However, the double barriers of geological time and fossil preservation has led to a poor understanding of the early history and evolution of ray-fins.

Dr Giles’ research uses x-ray tomography (CT scanning) to ‘virtually’ dissect living and fossil fishes and unlock their internal anatomy. Comparing key structures between living and extinct ray-fins allows for major events to be put into context, shedding new light on innovations and evolutionary relationships. These findings also provide insight into the explosive diversification of ray-finned fishes some 350 million years ago.

Wednesday 25th November 2020