An ancient swimming revolution in the oceans may have never happened

Fossil analysis suggests the rise of creatures that could swim was gradual, not sudden

Dunkleosteus

STRONG SWIMMER  The armored, jawed fish Dunkleosteus was a top ocean predator around 380 million to 360 million years ago, during the late Devonian Period. 

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About 540 million years ago, the oceans were an alien landscape, devoid of swimming, or nektonic, creatures.