In the US state of Texas, angler Sebastian Benitez pulled an unusual fish from the Trinity River — a rare hybrid of two ancient pike species. Scientists estimate that the evolutionary lines of these fish split during the age of dinosaurs, around 100 million years ago, according to infohub.kz.
Benitez was fishing on the Trinity River, where he had caught large trophies before. This time, however, he landed a rare hybrid — a female alligator gar and a male longnose gar.
Both species belong to one of the oldest evolutionary lineages of fish and appeared long before humans and even dinosaurs. Their common ancestor existed about 100 million years ago, so the caught hybrid can be considered a representative of this ancient line. Crossbreeding between these fish is extremely rare, accounting for only about 1–2% of the population.
The unusual fish can be identified by the shape of its head and mouth. The alligator gar has a short, broad snout, while the longnose gar, as its name suggests, has a long, narrow one. The hybrid has an elongated triangular snout that combines features of both species.
Incidentally, these ancient fish have another distinctive trait. They have the lowest level of genetic mutations among vertebrates. Scientists attribute this to an efficient DNA repair system and believe that studying it could aid cancer research.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that a fossilized track of a predatory mammal about 55 million years old was found in Antarctica. The coin-sized imprint was preserved in volcanic mud on King George Island.