research
Tuna Did Not Race Into the Dinosaur Gap
A combined fossil and genetic tree finds that large, warm-bodied pelagic fishes re-emerged gradually after the K-Pg extinction.
Summary
A combined fossil and genetic tree finds that large, warm-bodied pelagic fishes re-emerged gradually after the K-Pg extinction.
Yale-led researchers built a time-calibrated evolutionary tree for tunas, mackerels, and relatives using genetic data and fossils. The reconstruction rejects a simple burst in which tunas immediately filled ocean-predator niches after the dinosaur-killing impact; large body size and endothermy arose repeatedly over a longer interval. The work revises an evolutionary timing hypothesis and may inform conservation, but it does not link the traits directly to human metabolic disease.
Why it matters
A combined fossil and genetic tree finds that large, warm-bodied pelagic fishes re-emerged gradually after the K-Pg extinction.
Limits and context
- The work revises an evolutionary timing hypothesis and may inform conservation, but it does not link the traits directly to human metabolic disease.
Key claims
A combined fossil and genetic tree finds that large, warm-bodied pelagic fishes re-emerged gradually after the K-Pg extinction.
Qualification: The work revises an evolutionary timing hypothesis and may inform conservation, but it does not link the traits directly to human metabolic disease.
Evidence: source-2026-07-19-014
Sources
- Yale University via EurekAlert: Tuna evolution after K-PgYale University via EurekAlert · official announcement
Corrections
No corrections have been recorded for this story.