The fossil fish on the left is not related to the modern swordfish on the right, which is for sale at a fish market. Nevertheless, the swordfish developed a size and shape similar to the fossil fish and appears to be vulnerable to extinction for some of the same reasons that the fossil form was vulnerable: it is a large predator. Credit: Photo by Matt Friedman

Large size and a fast bite spelled doom for bony fishes during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago, according to a new study to be published March 31, 2009, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Today, those same features characterize large predatory bony fishes, such as tuna and billfishes, that are currently in decline and at risk of extinction themselves, said Matt Friedman, author of the study and a graduate student in evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago. "The same thing is happening today to ecologically similar fishes," he said. "The hardest hit species are consistently big predators." … 

Study unravels why certain fishes went extinct 65 million years ago

Technorati Tags: ,