“The coelacanth, also known as a “living fossil” because it lived alongside the dinosaurs, is giving experts a new understanding of skull and brain development among vertebrates.
“The coelacanth was thought to have vanished with the dinosaurs over 65 million years ago, until a living specimen was found off the coast of South Africa in 1938.
“The skull of this rare fish was found to be completely split in half a by special “intracranial joint,” and its brain is only one percent the size of the skull.
“An international team of researchers has looked into the biology of the skull at different stages of development to determine when it divides and forms a hinge.”
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