Meet our 400-million year-old ancestor

[Kasia]

http://www.newsweek.com/400-million-year-old-ancestor-dinosaurs-humans-and-bony-fish-discovered-954474?piano_t=1

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Far too handsome and cheerful looking to be my ancestor. 

[Shellseeker]

Thanks for sharing.. Reminds me of dim recollection from my childhood.

Good looks transcend form

[caldigger]

Nope, my 400 million year old ancestor had more facial hair and didn't smile that much due to poor dental hygine.

[doushantuo]

Lepidotrichia and scales like those from Ligulalepis were described by Carole Burrow in 1994(lowermost pic)

 

BTW,is anybody interested in the thingy below,an actual description of Ligulalepis??

Yes,I'm stodgy that way, but Newsweek as a source of paleontological info?Give me a break .

JVP is running a story for the coming issue on USA/North Korea negotiations,BTW

Basically ,what I think seems to have happened is that someone made some good old fashioned slices a la Stensio (only the modern tomographic version of it,

so some insight into cranial anatomy and paleoneurology was gained.

And in some cladograms the species ends up in pretty basal position(278 characters,94 taxa,bootstrap,Bremer,the lot)

Don't you jest love it when vertebrate phylogeny gets boiled down to ,...

well...

BTW:considering the roster of authors,this piece SHOULDN'T disappoint

 

[doushantuo]

a 2013 cladogram from "the salmon,the lungfish and the cow":showing the same taxon,again in a basal position,

So exactly how new is this insight?