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Makhanda-based researchers have described surprisingly well-preserved fossils of brittle stars discovered in the Eastern Cape.

Local fossils shake up our tree of life An astonishing discovery of baby lamprey fossils just outside Makhanda will force a major rethink of the evolutionary tree that gave rise to all vertebrates including our own species – Homo sapiens. Well-known local palaeontologist, Dr Rob Gess, found the fossils in 360-million-year-old black shale deposits from the Waterloo Farm bordering the N2 highway. The lamprey fossils were in various stages of development from hatchling to adult when they died. Remarkably, the smallest preserved individual, barely 15mm in length, still carried a yolk sac...