The first vertebrates on Earth arose in shallow coastal waters
A new study answers an enduring question about where our earliest backboned ancestors lived
![early vertebrate illustration](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/102418_cg_first-vert_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
CLOSE TO SHORE The earliest vertebrates, including this illustrated armored fish that lived 455 million years ago in what is now Colorado, evolved within a shallow, nearshore coastal zone.
Nobumichi Tamura