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Lamprey

7th November, 2023

Lamprey

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In News

  • Chinese paleontologists have discovered two new species of lamprey from fossils considered 160 million years old.
  • The two species were discovered in a fossil bed in North China.
  • The two species discovered in China were not simply sucking blood but were scooping out flesh from their prey.
  • Their bite was so powerful that it could even crack their prey’s skeleton.

Lamprey

  • Lampreys are an ancient lineage of jawless fish of the order Petromyzontiformes.
  • The adult lamprey are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth.
  • The oldest fossils of stem-group lampreys are from the latest Devonian, around 360 million years ago.
  • Modern lampreys spend the majority of their life in the juvenile "ammocoete" stage, where they burrow into the sediment and filter feed.
  • Adult carnivorous lampreys feed by boring into the flesh of other fish to consume flesh and/or blood.
  • Lampreys live mostly in coastal and fresh waters and are found in most temperate regions.
  • Lamprey distribution may be adversely affected by river habitat loss, overfishing, and pollution.

Range

  • Sea Lampreys range throughout the eastern United States and western Europe coasts, as well as the Great Lakes.
  • They have remained largely unchanged for more than 340 million years, since the Paleozoic Era, and survived through at least four major extinction events.

PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Which of the following species have survived through major extinction events?

1.    Tardigrade

2.    Lampreys

3.    Horseshoe Crabs

4.    Flying Gecko

Choose the correct code.

A.   1 and 3 only

B.   1 only

C.   1, 2 and 3 only

D.   All of the above

Answer: C. 1,2 and 3 only.