A picture of
a fish with human teeth found in Russia, which made the rounds on the internet
last week, has left many people with a number of questions.
According to
Cornell University evolutionary biologist William Benis, from an evolutionary
point of view, it could actually be the case that it’s the other way round, and
human’s are the ones who have fish teeth.
“Fishes with
specialized dentitions long predate the origin of humans,” he said.
Scientists
are also familiar with a fish, called the Helicoprion, which swam the oceans
around 270 million years ago and had spiky teeth in its lower jaw, just like a
buzzsaw.
According to
Yahoo! U.K., the Russian fisherman who caught the fish actually caught a pacu,
which is a relative of the piranha.
Pacus, which
are freshwater fish native to South America, have a square jaw with human
looking teeth which are pointed and sharp and used for eating their meaty
meals.
Even though
pacus are usually found in South American waters they have been discovered further
afield as well. Biologists suggest that some pacu owners dump the fish into
lakes when they grow too large for aquariums.
Dr. Benis
added that there are also other species of fish which have teeth that resemble
those of humans. Some fish even have teeth which closely resemble human
incisors, and many believe that fish’s teeth over time have evolved to help
them process the various vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants they eat.
Evolutionary
biologist Brian Sidlauskas of Oregon State University said about pacus, “This
doesn’t mean that pacus have human teeth, or that humans have pacu teeth. We’re
just so familiar with our own morphology. That we say, ‘Oh, that looks so much
like us’.”
Nevertheless,
the discovery of the fish with human teeth in Russia was certainly shocking for
the fisherman who found it, as pacus in the northern waters of Russia are
virtually unheard of.
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