Discovery of Fossilised Embryo From a Devonian Fish Earns John Long the 2008 Australasian Science Prize. (November 5, 2008)

The discovery of a fossilised embryo from a Devonian fish has earned Dr John Long, Head of Sciences at Museum Victoria, the Australasian Science Prize for 2008.

Dr Long's discovery is not only the first time that a fossil embryo has been found with an umbilical cord, but it is also the oldest known example of any creature giving birth to live young. The fossil of a placoderm fish from the Palaeozoic Era (540-250 million years ago) provides insights into the breeding behaviour of an entire class of extinct species.

The fossil was found in the Gogo area of north-west Western Australia and has been named Materpiscis attenboroughi after Sir David Attenborough. Dr Long says the discovery of the original "mother fish" was the "rosetta stone that opened our minds to interpreting other fossils" whose embryos were less clearly recognisable.

Long's awarding of the 2008 Australasian Science Prize drew support from a number of prominent researchers. Prof Pat Vickers-Rich, Chair of Palaeontology at Monash University, described Long's work as "world-class. Not only did this take very serious and clever field work, but the delicate preparation of this specimen and the recognition of what was before one's eyes was just outstanding."

Ken Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Geology at the Australian National University, said that "John Long has the wonderful ability to sort through new material and see structures that other experienced palaeontologists completely overlook," and praised "his capacity to make unusual observation, his capacity to extract information from unlikely sources and his capacity to interpret new data in terms of a good knowledge of comparative anatomy".

Lyn Beazley, Professor of Zoology at the University of Western Australia, praised Long's "outstanding science and science communication work, which has increased enormously our understanding of vertebrate evolution. Without doubt John is an outstanding scientist and an outstanding citizen."

Long believes the award is a "shot in the arm for palaeontology," and "shows palaeontology still has a major role to play in bioscience, despite the rise of molecular biology. These fossils give you an exact timing, which can tie the molecular clock to actual events in evolution."

Long also considers the Prize "a fantastic recognition of the way museums are doing high quality science". He says that museums can "do more fundamental research that is not driven by economically-oriented research priorities. We need to keep collecting more fossils because you never know what you might find."