Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in history, said a study in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.
The well-preserved remains, discovered from 370-million-year-old rocks in Latvia, has features in between those of fish and land animals.
The fierce-looking creature probably swam through shallow brackish waters, measured about one meter long and ate other fish, scientists said in the study.
"If you saw it from a distance, it would look like a small alligator, but if you look closer you would find a fin in the back," said Per Ahlberg, a professor of evolutionary biology at Uppsala University in Sweden.
It has long been accepted that all land animals with backbones -- including humans -- are descended from one small group of fish that left the water about 365 million years ago.
This suggests our understanding of the evolutionary transition from fish to tetrapod is beginning to face review, they said.
Source: Xinhua\agencies
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