#protanguilla

[awesomebanditlove]

Protanguilla palau. A living fossil with a limited distribution Location of Palau in Western Pacific Ocean. Location of Palau in Western Pacific Ocean. The discovery of Protanguilla palau is an exciting addition to the Order Anguilliformes. To date, ten specimens of Protanguilla palau have been found, all in the same fringing reef cave in Palau. Perhaps this species will be found in other locations in the future. Its long, independent evolutionary history (estimated to date back to the early Mesozoic era), its retention of primitive morphological features, and its apparently restricted distribution warrant its recognition as a "living fossil" and have generated a level of excitement reminiscent of the discovery of another living fossil fish, the coelacanth, in the late 1930's.

[muraenidae]

Protanguilla palau is the only member of the family Protanguillidae. These small eels share a number of features that were only known from fossils prior to its discovery in 2011. It's thought to have split from the other living eels around the early Triassic, although the first fossil eels are only known from the early Cretaceous - 100 million years after this hypothesized divergence. Because it looks so much like some fossil animals, it's tempting to think of Protanguilla as primitive, but just like the coelacanth, tuatara, and other 'living fossils,' it's important to remember that this animal is probably highly derived compared to the ancestor of all eels.