Contact: Rob Mitchum
robert.mitchum@uchospitals.edu
773-702-6241
University of Chicago Medical Center

Lauren Sallan and Professor Michael Coates, University of Chicago Medical Center

Caption: Lauren Sallan and Professor Michael Coates handle a actinopterygian fossil in their Culver Hall lab Oct. 6, 2009. Sallan and Coates found that an extinction event 360 million years ago set the stage for modern vertebrate evolution. The research was published online May 17 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Credit: Photo by Jason Smith/University of Chicago

Usage Restrictions: Attribution

Related news release: Prehistoric fish extinction paved the way for modern vertebrates