"A mind-boggling, jaw-dropping” 380-million-year-old fossilized heart has been discovered in Western Australia, preserved inside a now extinct prehistoric fish known as the Gogo. The Gogo Station fossil site located near Kimberley has unique minerals that have acted to “preserve” the fish’s fossilized heart, the oldest heart ever found so far.
This is exceptionally rare in the world of fossils as it is usually bones that become fossils not internal organs. The Gogo fossilized heart discovery has provided a crucial window into understanding the process of evolution, showing the early evolution of body plans. The presence of the backbone on this jawed fish represents an evolutionary step towards a body plan not found in most animals with a backbone today including human beings!
Gogo Fish Placoderms: Fossilized Hearts, Jaws, and Backbones
The fossilized heart of the Gogo fish was the subject of a detailed and comprehensive team study published in Science, led by Professor Kate Trinajstic, paleontologist and evolutionary biologist at Curtin University, Western Australia. “Evolution is often thought of as a series of small steps, but these ancient fossils suggest there was a larger leap between jawless and jawed vertebrates. These fish literally have their hearts in their mouths and under their gills - just like sharks today,” she said.
