The reporter learned from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that after more than 10 years of field excavation and indoor research, Chinese researchers have discovered the fossils of teleost fishes 436 million years ago, and revealed the morphology, jaw, teeth, brain and other important characteristics of two primitive teleost fishes, providing important evidence for filling the "fish to human" evolution chain. This research was completed by Zhu Min, an academician of the CAS Member and a researcher of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The relevant achievements formed two academic articles, which were published in the international academic journal Nature on March 5, Beijing time. Fish are the ancestors of all vertebrates, including humans. From jawed vertebrates, to bony fish, carnivorous fish, and then to a branch of carnivorous fish that landed and evolved all quadrupedal animals, including humans, constitute the core evolutionary thread of "from fish to humans". However, due to the scarcity of information on primitive bony fish, the academic community's understanding of them is very limited. In this study, the team discovered Chongqing bony fish in Xiushan, Chongqing, with a total length of only 3 centimeters, but the head and tail were well preserved, and its survival age was earlier than previously known bony fish fossils. In addition, the team used high-resolution CT imaging technology to analyze in detail the blunt toothed Macrognathus fossils unearthed in Qujing, Yunnan, and restored the complete head structure and tooth morphology of the largest vertebrate during the Silurian period (approximately 440 million to 410 million years ago). This achievement further confirms that China is the cradle of early vertebrate origins. In the future, by excavating more fossil materials from key geological periods, it is expected to solve more important scientific problems in the evolution process from fish to humans. ”Zhu Min said. (New Society)