Credit: Image by IVPP [Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeonthropology] The inner ear of a 400 million-year-old 'platypus fish' has yielded new insights into early vertebrate evolution, suggesting this ancient creature may be more closely related to modern-day sharks and bony fish than previously thought. A team of scientists from the University of Birmingham in the UK, and institutions in China, Australia and Sweden, used 'virtual anatomy' techniques, including MicroCT scanning (using x-rays to look inside the fossil) and digital reconstruction to examine previously unseen areas within the braincase of these mysterious fossils. They discovered the fish, called Brindabellaspis stensioi and nicknamed 'platypus fish' because of its long beak, has an inner ear which is surprisingly compact in construction. Its closely connected components resemble the inner ears of modern jawed vertebrates such as sharks and bony fishes. Some features of it also appear very similar to a human's inner ear. The team's analysis is published in