Finding a fossil of a long-extinct animal is always exciting.
In some cases, it is easy to determine what the animal is and the fossil can be studied to try to learn more about the species and how it lived.
Sometimes, however, a fossil is nothing like any other known species is found. This can be very challenging for scientists to study and eventually classify.
That is the situation for two fossils of a fish that are estimated to be 50 million years old. The animal is called the Pegasus volans’ currently, but even that may not be appropriate. The first known fossils of the creature were found in the 18th century.
Giovanni Serafino Volta thought that it might be a larval form of a seamoth Pegasus volitans, which is where he came up with the name.
Unfortunately, most experts now agree that this is extremely unlikely. Paleontologist Donald Davesne of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris once commented on it to Science News, saying:
“They have nothing in common. I don’t know what this guy was thinking.”
So, if that is wrong, what might it be? That is the difficult part.
The authors of the paper say that they have a proposal for a new genus name that would be a better fit for this animal. The name they came up with, they say, is inspired by a late musician. They refuse to release the name until the paper is fully published.
You can see an image of the fossil here:
Whatever it turns out to be, the fish looks like it was beautiful.
Currently the preprint of the study is available on bioRxiv.
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