Devonian arthrodire embryos and the origin of internal fertilization in vertebrates

John A. Long (), Kate Trinajstic and Zerina Johanson
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John A. Long: Museum Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne 3001, Victoria, Australia
Kate Trinajstic: School of Earth and Geographical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth 6009, Western Australia, Australia
Zerina Johanson: Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK

Nature, 2009, vol. 457, issue 7233, 1124-1127

Abstract: Early vertebrate reproduction The recent discovery of evidence for internal fertilization and live birth in ptyctodonts, a small group of the extinct fossil fishes known as placoderms, provided a rare glimpse of an ancient form of reproductive biology. Now embryos have been found within another well preserved fossil placoderm, Incisoscutum. This is important because Incisoscutum is a member of the arthrodires, a large and diverse group of placoderms. The fossils show that the pelvic girdle in Incisoscutum was adapted to support organs like the claspers of sharks, which are used in internal fertilization. These new finds confirm that internal fertilization and viviparity were much more widespread among the earliest jawed vertebrates than had previously been appreciated

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07732

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