In remote Venezuela, a previously unknown catfish has been discovered. Scientists say that this species will shake the evolution tree. The new catfish has two families, Loricariidae and Astroblepidae. These fish have body armor that protects its head and tail. It also has a grasping pelvic fin that can grab vertical surfaces such as rocks. The strange fish caught the attention of the team 20 years ago. They took food samples and the fish to the Instituto de Zoologíca for identification. It took them years to pin point where the fish originated. They believe that the fishes ancestors most likely inhabited the upland Amazon streams and Orinoco river basins. Now the question is if the fish grasping pelvis and climbing behavior came from evolution or if it was independently acquired.
I believe that this is an amazing discovery. If we learn more about evolution we can learn about our own evolutionary process. We then can learn more about our ancestors and about ourselves. I found this article at http://www.livescience.com/animals/090122-climbing-catfish.html
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