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Scientists discover mother lode

2 July 2008

Scientists unearth 'the world's oldest mother' -- a 375 million year old placoderm fish with embryo and umbilical cord attached. The fossil is the oldest example of vertebrate pregancy ever discovered.

Scientists have made one of palaeontology's biggest breakthroughs, the discovery of the fossilised remains of the world's oldest mother.

Measuring around 25cm in length, the mother is an extinct placoderm fish, the dominant group of vertebrates throughout the Middle Palaeozoic Era (420 to 350 million years ago). The placoderms, often referred to as "the dinosaurs of the seas", were the rulers of the world's lakes and seas for almost 70 million years.

Monash and Australian scientists found the fossil -- named Materpiscis attenboroughi after the famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough -- in the Gogo area of north-west Western Australia.

Honorary Research Associate of the Monash School of Geosciences Dr John Long said the discovery was the first time that a fossil embryo had been found with an umbilical cord and the oldest known example of any creature giving birth to live young .

"The existence of the embryo and umbilical cord within the specimen provides scientists with the first ever example of internal fertilisation, confirming that some placoderms had remarkably advanced reproductive biology," Dr Long said.

"This discovery changes our understanding of the evolution of vertebrates."

Chair in Palaeontology and Founding Director of the Monash Science Centre Professor Patricia Vickers-Rich said the announcement was exciting. 

"It also points to the high quality of preservation typical of the Gogo locale, one of a few world class palaeontological sites in Australia. It highlights the determined and long term effort put into preparing and studying this material organized by Dr John Long and his students," Professor Rich said.

The fossil find was made on an Australian Research Council funded expedition by Dr Long, Dr Kate Trinajstic of the University of Western Australia, and Dr Gavin Young and Dr Tim Senden from The Australian National University.

To find out more about Palaeontological research at Monash, visit the School of Geosciences website.