Jurassic-Era Fossil Discovery Reveals Lampreys Evolved Predatory Flesh-Eating Habits 160 Million Years Ago

Unprecedented fossil findings highlight that prehistoric lamprey fish had flesh-eating habits and advanced feeding structures, sparking a revision in understanding of vampire-like species' evolution.

• Two newly identified ancient lamprey species, Yanliaomyzon occisor and Yanliaomyzon ingensdentes, found in northern China, suggest that these flesh-eating habits evolved 160 million years ago in the Jurassic era.
• The fossils, which are ten times larger than earlier-known species, show that the lampreys featured advanced feeding structures, lending credibility to their predatory nature in the Jurassic period.
• Contrary to the commonly held belief that lampreys were originally blood-suckers, Feixiang Wu, a paleontologist and the study's lead author, asserts that they were probably flesh-eaters due to their well-preserved biting structures.
• The lamprey species located, particularly close in physiological characteristics to the modern pouched lamprey, are thought to have originated in the Southern Hemisphere, a marked shift from the previously believed Northern Hemisphere origin.
• Researchers posit that these ancient lampreys already exhibited a three-stage life cycle akin to present-day lampreys, shedding light on the evolutionary history of lampreys' feeding biology.

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