slutty fish!

Fish fossil is oldest to have 'fun sex'

A prehistoric fish which roamed the seas almost 400 million years ago has been unveiled by scientists as the “oldest mother ever discovered”.

The fossilised placoderm - a now extinct, armoured fish - was discovered in Western Australia complete with a perfectly preserved embryo and umbilical cord.

Dr John Long, Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria, points out the umbilical cord on the fossil

Scientists have hailed the discovery as not only the earliest example of an animal giving birth to live young, but also the oldest evidence of vetebrates having "sex that was fun".




The 10in fossil, dug up at the Gogo rock formation, east of the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing, has been named Materpiscis Attenboroughi - 'Attenborough's mother fish' - after the naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Thought to be at least 380 million years old, the find pushes back the record for a live birth by 200 million years.

"It dawned on me after studying the specimen that this was the earliest evidence of vertebrates having sex by copulation - not just spawning in water, but sex that was fun."

source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/05/29/eafish129.xml