AFP reports that the fish dubbed "mother fish" by the scientists who discovered her, "Materpiscis attenboroughi" is not only an entirely new genus and species, but pushes back the first known case of live birth in the animal kingdom by some 200 million years.
The tail-first birthing process was probably similar to that of some species of sharks and rays living today, says the study, published in the British journal Nature.
"The discovery is certainly one of the most extraordinary fossil finds ever made, and changes our understanding of the evolution of vertebrates," commented lead researcher John Long, head of science at Museum Victoria.
