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Fossils Point to an Amphibian That Lived at Sea

An ancient animal's bones were found in a place that was once an ocean.

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Science news editorial illustration for Armoured Amphibian Fossils Suggest Life Far Out at Sea

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from that an have its in the . the . Their was on 26.

The 237 . The had a by . The it was was from at the , and in the .

The this be the . it with is an on , not .

Source: University of California, Davis, 2026-10-26.

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Read and understand · 1/2Which two details support the team's idea that the animal lived at sea?

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The burial place was far from land, and bone chemistry matches ancient seawater.. The passage identifies both the former distance from land and the chemical traces as evidence.

Clue: The fossils date back around 237 million years. The creature had a flat body protected by bony plates. The place where it was buried was far from land at the time, and chemical traces in the bones match ancient seawater.

Read and understand · 2/2What remains uncertain about the animal?

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Exactly how it dealt with salt. The proposed way it handled salt is an evidence-based explanation, not a direct observation.

Clue: The team says this could be the first known fully marine amphibian. How it dealt with salt is still an explanation based on evidence, not something scientists observed directly.

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Explain one clue for a marine life and one question that remains open.

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The chemical traces in the bones match ancient seawater, supporting a marine life. Exactly how the animal dealt with salt remains uncertain.

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