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The stunning fossil of a fish giving birth that proves animals had 'sex for fun' 380 million years ago

Sex for pleasure is a lot older than we thought, according to a stunning new fossil find announced by scientists yesterday.

A fossil of an ancient, extinct Australian fish which died just before giving birth to a live baby is, according to the scientist who made the discovery, 'the earliest evidence of vertebrates having sex by copulation – not just spawning in water, but sex that was fun'.

These are the fossil remains of the 375-million fish - the oldest vertebrate mother ever discovered

The find, revealed in the journal Nature, is by far the oldest 'viviparous', or live, birth yet found by scientists.

The fish, one of a primitive extinct group called the 'Placoderms', lived in the seas of Devonian Earth and has been dated to 380 million years old.

The fossil, discovered by Professor John Long at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, shows the bones of the tiny baby fish, still attached by its umbilical cord. It is thought the mother fish was about to give birth to maybe three or four babies just before she was killed.

“When I first saw the embryo inside the mother fish my jaw dropped, I was silent, stunned like a mullet. I realised that in my hands was the oldest known vertebrate embryo.”

The embryo can clearly be seen in this image of the fossil - even, amazingly, the umbilical cord

The find was made in the Gogo rock formation east of the remote town of Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, and pushes back the record for a live birth by 200 million years.

The fish, a new species, has been named Materpiscis attenboroughi, 'Attenborough's mother-fish' in honour of Sir David, who featured the extraordinary fossil beds at Gogo in his 1979 TV series Life on Earth.

“The discovery is certainly one of the most extraordinary fossil finds ever made. It is not only the first time ever that a fossil embryo has been found with an umbilical cord, but it is also the oldest known example of any creature giving birth to live young,” said Dr Long.

“The existence of the embryo and umbilical cord within the specimen provides scientists with the first ever example of internal fertilisation - i.e sex - confirming that some placoderms had remarkably advanced reproductive biology. This discovery changes our understanding of the evolution of vertebrates,” he added.

Dr John Long points out the umbilical cord on the fossil, the fossilised remains of the oldest mother ever discovered

The fossilised fish has been named in honour of Sir David Attenborough

The vertebrates consist of the fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Only birds, among these, are exclusively egg-laying but live births among fishes were thought to be confined to the sharks and rays.

Like the sharks, this species of Placoderm possessed a pair of bony graspers with which the male grasped the female while fertilising her with his sperm. “It might have been fun, for the male at least,” said Dr Long.

Placoderms were fearsome looking creatures, with powerful nutcracker jaws, clad in bony armour plating and thought to be efficient predators. The fossil is of a specimen about the size of a mackerel but some placoderms grew to a length of nearly 20ft, and the group as a whole formed the dominant vertebrates of the Devonian era, a time when other species of fish were starting to crawl out onto the land and evolving into the first four-legged animals.

It is thought the placoderms became extinct as a result of climate change at the end of the Devonian; their place in the pecking order was taken by a new group of fishes to have evolved: the sharks.

The announcement of the finding was made at the grand opening of the refurbished Royal Institution in London yesterday, at which the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were present at the press conference.

The World Trade Center site in New York, in September of 2001.

These photos were taken at Ground Zero, the World Trade Center site in New York, in September of 2001.

They were taken by someone named "Ed" who was allowed into the area by a member of the emergency response crew, at a time when all civilians -- including most journalists -- were forbidden to enter the area. As a result, these photos are among the few close-ups ever taken of the World Trade Center site so soon after the 9/11 attacks.

The person who submitted these pictures had originally been under the impression that they were taken on September 13, 2001, but recent examination of other Ground Zero photos suggest that in fact the photos on this page were taken later in September, perhaps ten days after 9/11.

This satellite photo, for example, was taken on September 15, 2001 and shows that the West Side Highway, which runs alongside the west edge of Ground Zero, had still not been fully cleared of debris at the time the photo was taken. Yet the photos on this page show the same street substantially cleared of debris, which means they must have been taken several days afterward.

This image of Ground Zero taken by photographer Joel Meyerowitz and published in his book Aftermath was taken on September 23 and shows the debris cleared away to a somewhat greater degree than in the photos here, meaning that the Meyerowitz photo was taken perhaps a couple of days later. Other rare Ground Zero images from the time also suggest that these "Ed" pictures -- while still unique -- were most likely taken nearer to September 21, 2001, and not on September 13 as was originally reported.

We apologize for the confusion. In any event, here are the photos, which remain a powerful testimony to the destruction of 9/11:

Overview of the wreckage looking west.

Overview of the wreckage looking east.

Overview of the wreckage looking northwest.

Overview of the wreckage looking north.

A scene from inside the Bankers' Trust lobby.

The wreckage of the North Tower.

Overview of the site.

Overview of the site looking west.

View of the Bankers' Trust building.

View of the punctured Financial Center.

Another view of the punctured Financial Center.

The center of the site.

More smoke drifting over the wreckage.

A surviving footbridge.

A view from street level.

Police and troops guarding the site.

Wreckage seen through plate glass.

Cranes beginning to work on the cleanup.

Another street-level scene.

Workers at Ground Zero.

Top 10 Views from an Astronaut-Photographer

Top 10 Views from an Astronaut-Photographer

Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the ISS took more than 24,000 pictures out the window. Here are his 10 favorites.

Number 10: Progress approaches the International Space Station

Backdropped by the blackness of space and Earth's horizon, an unpiloted Progress supply vehicle approaches the International Space Station. The Progress 17 resupply craft docked to the aft port of the Zvezda Service Module as the Station flew 225 statute miles over the equator west of Africa.

Number 9: Beijing, China

The large city Beijing (Peking), China is featured in this image photographed by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the International Space Station.

Number 8: New York City

Manhattan Island and its easily recognizable Central Park are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 10 crewmember on the International Space Station. Some of the other New York City boroughs (including parts of Queens and Brooklyn) are also shown, as are two small sections of the New Jersey side of the Hudson River (left).

Number 7: The Himalaya Mountains

The Himalaya Mountains are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 10 crewmember on the International Space Station.

Number 6: Cape Cod National Seashore

The northernmost parts of the Cape Cod National Seashore are featured in this image photographed by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the International Space Station.

Number 5: Chinese Launch Complex

Chinese Launch Complex at Jiuquan is featured in this image photographed by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the International Space Station.

Number 4: The Great Wall of China and Inner Mongolia

The Great Wall of China and Inner Mongolia are featured in this image photographed by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the International Space Station.

Number 3: Algerian desert

The Algerian desert is featured in this image photographed by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the International Space Station.

Number 2: Lake Nasser

Egypt's Lake Nasser, centered roughly at 22.64 degrees north latitude and 32.45 degrees east longitude, was captured with an electronic still camera by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao onboard the International Space Station. Sunglint on the lake makes it more easily visible.

Number 1: Full Moon

A full moon is visible in this view above Earth’s horizon and airglow, photographed by Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao on the International Space Station.