E-Mail IMAGE: 1.5 cm long Priscomyzon hatchling showing bulge of yolk sac material. Photo at left, annotated photo at centre and drawing at right. Figure from paper. Picture credit Nature publishing group.... view more Credit: Nature Publishing Group The unprecedented discovery of an ancient lamprey growth series, published in the prestigious scientific journal, Nature, is overturning long-held ideas as to what modern lampreys may tell us about the origin of vertebrates (all animals with a backbone such as goldfish, lizards, crows and people). "Lampreys and modern hagfish are the only jawless fish alive that branched off from the family tree of vertebrates before they got jaws," says Dr Rob Gess from the Albany Museum in Makhanda, who discovered the ancient fossils. "This makes them very interesting for researchers attempting to understand the earliest stages of vertebrate history."