This Strange Fish Has A Skeleton And Can Walk On Land

It happened only 375 million years ago---if you remember! Our forefathers happened to evolve from swimming fish to vertebrates in the land. And a new blind fish that walks on land even today can give you some insight.

This waterfall-climbing cave fish (Cryptotora thamicola) was found in Thailand in 1985 and also has many adaptations and skeletal features, including a pelvis, that first led our ancestors to walk.

"It's really weird," said  John Hutchinson, a biologist from the University of London who was not involved in the new study. "It's a good example of how much fish diversity there's left to be discovered."

This two-inch long fish feasts on microbes and organic matter growing on cave walls. Though it was found long ago, in 1985, the most recent study is trying to look closely at the species and search for some parallels with ancestors.

Following a recent expedition, Apinun Suvarnaraksha, a co-author, shot the movements of the spectacular climber and exposed them to biomedical expert Brooke Flammang, another co-author.

"I was completely blown away," Flammang said, noting their ability to utilize a tetrapod gait as opposed to flopping or crutching.

"These guys seemed to be very leisurely walking up the rock face," she added.

One of the few preserved specimens of the fish were studied in a high-resolution computerized tomography (CT) scanner. They saw a skeleton that looked like the one seen in a tetrapod.

"I literally thought someone was playing a trick on me," Flammang said.

Hence, the team was proven right in its surmise that the fish were using their tetrapod-like skeletons to walk, like a salamander.

The team just hopes that the fish will help scientists to find out how fish began to walk and traverse the land.

The findings were published in the March 24,2016 issue of Scientific Reports.