中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所朱敏团队近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们发现了志留纪早期最古老的多节硬骨鱼。相关论文于2026年3月4日发表于国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》杂志上。

在这里，该团队报道了早志留世重庆生物群（约4.36亿年前）保存了近乎完整的关联硬骨鱼化石，这是包括微体化石在内的最古老硬骨鱼类记录。这种小鱼呈现出一种半形的、广义的骨鱼体轮廓，具有多形的骨鱼特征，包括没有鳞毛，存在连续的中背板、胸鳍和背鳍刺以及肛门鳍，这些特征此前仅见于板鳃类干群和一种盾皮鱼。它还表现出一些特征，如单背鳍和尾尖，这些特征在放光鳍类动物中很常见。贝叶斯推断和最大简约法50%多数规则共识将其置于硬骨鱼干群，而严格共识树在硬骨鱼类内部位置未定。这一发现增加了志留纪硬骨鱼的多样性，并进一步充实了硬骨鱼干群。早期硬骨鱼类之间的形态差异表明，硬骨鱼类在志留纪至早泥盆世的辐射范围比以前的证据线所表明的更广泛。

据了解，硬鱼目，包括肉鳍目和活动鳍目，是现代脊椎动物生物多样性的主要物种，但它们的前泥盆纪化石记录仍然稀少且碎片化。最古老的有关节的肉翼龙和茎骨鱼可以追溯到志留纪晚期，而无可争议的有关节的动翼龙化石只出现在泥盆纪中期。

附：英文原文

Title: The oldest articulated bony fish from the early Silurian period

Author: Zhu, You-An, Chen, Yang, Li, Qiang, Zhao, Wen-Jin, Zhou, Zheng-Da, Jia, Lian-Tao, Yu, Yi-Lun, Yu, Han-Xin, Wei, Guang-Biao, Ahlberg, Per E., Lu, Jing, Zhu, Min

Issue&Volume: 2026-03-04

Abstract: Osteichthyans, comprising sarcopterygians and actinopterygians, dominate modern vertebrate biodiversity1,2,3, yet their pre-Devonian fossil record remains scarce and fragmentary4,5. The oldest articulated sarcopterygian6 and stem osteichthyan7 date to the late Silurian, whereas undisputed actinopterygian fossils in articulation appear only in the Middle Devonian8. Here we report an articulated, near-complete osteichthyan from the early Silurian Chongqing Lagersttte (approximately 436million years ago)9,10,11, representing the oldest osteichthyan occurrence including microfossils. This tiny fish exhibits a fusiform, generalized osteichthyan body outline, with plesiomorphic osteichthyan characters, including the lack of lepidotrichia and the presence of serial median dorsal plates, pectoral and dorsal fin spines and an anal fin spine reported previously exclusively in stem chondrichthyans12 and one placoderm13. It also displays features, such as a single dorsal fin and caudal fulcra, seen commonly in actinopterygians. Bayesian inference and the 50% majority rule consensus of the maximum-parsimony analysis place the new fish on the osteichthyan stem, whereas the strict consensus leaves its position unresolved within osteichthyans. This discovery increases Silurian osteichthyan diversity and further populates the osteichthyan stem group. The morphological disparity among early osteichthyans implies a more extensive Silurian to Early Devonian radiation of bony fishes than previous lines of evidence suggested.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10125-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10125-2