Primitive vertebrate sped up

Over a course of 20 million years, our ancestors went from wrinkled sacks to fast swimmers with spines, brains, and most of the organs we have today. Vertebrates’ way towards world supremacy had begun. The oldest representative of the new animal family tree branch was excavated in 1999 on the banks of a mountain lake in Southern China and named Myllokunmingia.

Myllokunmingia was only about 3 cm long and the spitting image of a fish with a long dorsal fin and a smaller ventral fin and gills on each side. However, the most remarkable thing about the creature was a bony skull and a primitive cartilage spine.

The spine was a brand new invention, which provided a unique advantage. Along its body, a series of muscles were attached to the spine, and when the muscles contracted rhythmically, the body wound from side to side like a snake, providing the animal with such momentum that it could probably swim faster and for longer than all other animals.