6-million-year-old fossil found in Panama

A highly significant paleontological discovery in the province of Colón is rewriting what was known about the formation time of the Isthmus of Panama. Marine paleontologist and professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Panama has discovered a 6-million-year-old fossil of a new species of fish.

This specimen, found off the coast of the Piña district, Chagres district, corresponds to a deep-water snapper originating in the Indo-Pacific, and could be the milestone that overturns the theory of the formation of the isthmus, which until now is believed to date back 10 million years.