In the very first research study, Flinders University paleontologist Alice Clement and associates concentrated on Cainocara enigmaan enigmatic fossil understood from a single specimen from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation in Western Australia.

“The brand-new research study is gradually contributing to the story of the crucial Australian fossil website’s abundant variety of lungfishes, consisting of re-examining improperly protected specimens,” Dr. Clement stated.

“One such harmed specimen has actually yielded important brand-new ideas. It originates from Australia’s very first ‘Great Barrier Reef,’ the Devonian-age reef in the Kimberley area of northern Western Australia.”

“The uncommon specimen was so enigmatic, the authors who initially explained it in 2010 considered it might be an entire brand-new kind of fish never ever before seen in science.”

“Using state-of-the-art scanning, this time we had the ability to develop thorough brand-new digital pictures of the external and internal cranium, showcasing the intricacy of the brain cavity of this interesting lungfish.”

“In truth, we were likewise able to verify that previous impressions were most likely seen upside down and back to front.”

“We had the ability to compare its most maintained inner ear location with other Gogo lungfish,” stated Flinders University paleontologist Hannah Thiele.

“This is an additional information point in the fantastic collection of lungfish and early vertebrate types.”

“It contributes to the broader understanding of the advancement of these earliest lobe-finned fishes, both in Gondwana and throughout the world.”

In the 2nd research study, Flinders University paleontologist Brian Choo and coworkers explained a brand-new types of lungfish from the Devonian of China: Paleolophus yunnanensis

Paleolophus yunnanensis offers us an unmatched take a look at a lungfish from a time in between their earliest look and their terrific diversity a couple of million years later on,” Dr. Choo stated.

“It was a time when the group was simply beginning to establish the unique feeding adjustments that would serve them for the rest of the Devonian and onwards to today day.”

“Lungfish are an extremely ancient family tree, consisting of the still living Australian lungfish from Queensland, that have actually long interested scientists due to their close relationship to the tetrapods, or backboned animals with limbs, consisting of people.”

“The remarkable lungfish skull discovered in 410 million-year-old rocks in Yunnan offers us significant insights into the fast evolutionary diversity in between the Early-, Middle- and Late Devonian.”

“The brand-new specimen had comparable and divergent functions compared to the earliest and most primitive Diabolepis fossil in southern China, and types such as Uranolophus from Wyoming in the United States and other types like Australia’s Dipnorhynchus“

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Hannah S. Thiele et alUnderstanding Cainocara enigma from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation, Australia. Canadian Journal of Zoologyreleased online January 28, 2026; doi: 10.1139/ cjz-2025-0109

Tuo Qiao et al2026. A brand-new fossil fish clarifies the quick advancement of early lungfishes. Present Biology 36 (1 ): 243-251; doi: 10.1016/ j.cub.2025.11.032