Paleontologists at University College Cork have discovered that the evolution of fish is linked to the shape, location and abundance of tiny melanin-rich granules called melanosomes. These features survive in 300-million-year-old fossil fish, suggesting that melanosomes have played a key role in vertebrate evolution since the major fish groups evolved around 445 million years ago.
Developing story reported by Phys.org. Further verified dispatches and detailed updates will follow shortly as confirmed by correspondents.