A series of remarkably well preserved fossils found in Xingyi, China, have allowed researchers to describe the earliest fish known to take to the air.

Credit: R. SOC.

Potanichthys xingyiensis (pictured) is not an ancestor of modern flying fish. However, it is the oldest animal yet found belonging to a group of fish — the Thoracopteridae — that evolved their gliding skills separately between 200 million and 250 million years ago, according to a report by Ke-Qin Gao at Peking University in Beijing and his colleagues. The animal, measuring just 15 centimetres long, had a pair of large pectoral fins that probably functioned as its main wings, and pelvic fins that were used as secondary wings. A large and asymmetric tail probably provided thrust to launch the animal into the air.

This is the first Thoracopteride found in Asia and expands the known range of these early flying fish from the west to the east side of the prehistoric Palaeotethys Ocean.

Proc. R. Soc. B http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2261 (2012)