Quebec researchers have found a fossil that they say is from one of the first animals to climb out of the ancient seas to live on land.
They say the fins of the 350-million-year-old fish contain finger-like bones that are probably the origin of the human hand.
Richard Cloutier of the University of Quebec at Rimouski says the fossil was found about 10 years ago at a site in Quebec that has produced many fossils from the time when animals were beginning to crawl out of the oceans onto land.
The fins of the one-and-a-half-metre, well-preserved fossil have at least two sets of finger bones in each.
Cloutier says the beast could probably breathe both air and in water.
He says its mouthful of teeth suggest it was one of the top predators of its age.
Cloutier calls his discovery a true hybrid between fish and the four-legged creatures that would come to dominate the continents.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2020
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
