Why is the White Sturgeon often referred to as a 'living fossil'?
Answer
Its fundamental body plan has been largely unchanged since the Late Cretaceous period
The designation of the White Sturgeon as a 'living fossil' stems from its remarkable evolutionary stasis over immense geological timescales. This fish maintains a fundamental body plan that has persisted for over 66 million years, dating back to the Late Cretaceous period. This means its basic morphology—including the presence of scutes, the cartilaginous skeleton, and the overall ancient structure—has remained largely successful and unmodified through numerous environmental shifts and extinctions that affected other aquatic species across millions of years.
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