The Evolution of Flying Fish

[@loopernoodling]

As a teenager hitching round Europe a very long time ago, me and a friend were paddling on a beach in (then) Yugoslavia when a shoal of small fish came towards us, all leaping out of the water at the same time. We ran back to the shore - coming from the Midlands of rainy old UK, we'd never seen anything like it! I'm sure others on the beach had a good laugh at our expense.

[@tangerinetangerine4400]

Such a cool experience. Thanks for sharing!

[@JunoDiovonaDemihof]

Fish flew before any bird flew on our planet! BRILLIANT and fascinating.

[@jornahpee]

what is this emoji

[@JunoDiovonaDemihof]

@@jornahpee оh, I am subscribed to "no commercials" on KZbin, I think/believe it gives me a whole array of extra emojis... like:. ... can you see all of them?

[@6Pope9]

That is not that mindblowing given that the life in water is far more old than life on land that evolved flying.

[@JunoDiovonaDemihof]

@@6Pope9 I wrote: brilliant and fascinating, where did you find "mind-blowing" in my comment? Obviously, life on earth developed underwater initially. But, did you know that 65 million years ago there were flying fish? I did not. take care

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

Well less flying and more long jumping with style.

[@MrT_Rex]

Just the fact that flying fishes exist...this is a masterpiece of evolution

[@SoulDelSol]

We should breed super human fish-like soldiers. What could go wrong

[@mhdfrb9971]

Easy food for the seagulls

[@robertstone9988]

Is it really any more strange than bird that swims?

[@timoteusduplooy7563]

GOD CREATED THEM, THEY DIDNT EVOLVE

[@alexdavis1541]

What about the flying lizards, and even flying snakes, of Indonesia?

[@plumpengu]

i think it’s so interesting how similar flying fish funds fins are to insect wings like mantids or stick insects. at least superficially

[@hamouz1999]

where is the intro 😢😢😢

[@CaptLuser]

maybe he’s just working on a new one but that’s still no excuse for depriving us of it now

[@bob1234881]

On the other clips. 😀

[@Noam-Bahar]

He forgor

[@alveolate]

whole video feels weird without the amphibian splash T_T

[@Zveebo]

It wasn’t on the last one either - maybe he’s decided to drop it 😥

[@LDSG_A_Team]

One of the finest channels on the platform

[@markb6978]

New Moth Light! Always happy to see the notification.

[@BeTheGr8]

That soothing, informative voice ❤

[@Splarkszter]

🤤

[@HandsomeLad69]

Me likey

[@mikedergz6163]

It's Italian

[@bobmorgan476]

Thank you, this was a fascinating, informative, and well produced video. I’m a tropical fish hobbyist that has kept two unrelated species of freshwater “flying”/gliding fish, the African butterfly fish, Pantodon buchholzi, and the silver or platinum hatchetfish, Thoracocharax stellatus. Freshwater hatchetfish have the distinction of being the only fish capable of powered flight, buzzing their pectoral fins fast enough to keep them aloft for almost 4 meters. Not bad for a 7cm fish!

[@MrWackozacko]

Thats awesome i had never heard of those fish. I just finished a new aquaponics system and was thinking about Archer fish in some tanks. Do you have them in regular glass tanks, do they fly out?

[@natquesenberry6368]

I once had an African butterfly fish. Possibly the most interesting fish I ever kept.

[@ArcadeTheatre]

Fish are so cool. I wish they were real.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

We made birds, one day we’ll make fish real too🤘

[@Mx._M_o_t_h]

@@UCannotDefeatMyShmeatone day 😔

[@maxcasteel2141]

Forever one of my favorite evolution youtubers. I feel like I've learned so much from you, especially when I first started my journey into learning about the history of life, which has massively shaped my worldview since then.

[@MarktheRude]

This is really stupid but can you bring back the intro? Intro was comfy and it just somehow feels off when there is no intro.

[@philfedorowick]

agreed! please do!

[@TheAutobotPower]

Consider the Flish, 200 million years in the future.

[@PalaeoJoe]

I am so happy somebody referenced The Future Is Wild

[@JoseDominguez-l5v]

Sorry babe new moth light video just dropped, can't come over rn

[@Vikface1978]

Watch it together? 😂

[@fishfightgo6559]

This gave me a idea what if in a alien world that is covered with islands and highly active volcanoes causing most islands to be created and destroyed in a daily bases, the aquatic life evolves to fly before evolving to walk on land.

[@_Wombat]

or just a completely ocean world with no land - that would force the only two environments to be the ocean and the sky.

[@kokroucz]

Good video moth. Flying fish is crazy topic I tackled once. It's crazy to think it happened more than once and species we see today are not exactly closely related

[@tomrock6431]

one of the most incredible animals on Earth yet, there is not much vids on them :( Great vid guys

[@watsonwrote]

Note: There's a typo in the description "see" should be "sea." Love your videos!

[@artofescapism]

Flying fish are such funny little weirdos, and I love them. It's really fascinating to get a glimpse into their evolutionary history. Thank you!

[@DeclanDG]

They are truly always a delight to see on the water. Never gets old. Love your work Moth Light!

[@nazzkid23]

this was SUCH a great and informative video, flying fish are so slept on! 🐟💙

[@jfu5222]

If I ever found myself swimming in the middle of the ocean, I would want to get the hell out of there too.

[@xMotherOfDragonsx]

This made me laugh 🤣

[@charlieross-BRM]

I remember my mother describing being on a ship and seeing "flying fish." I wasn't likely even 8 years old so my imagine was off the rails trying to picture what she was describing. It's one of those mom/son things that stuck with me. She was a British nurse officer being transported around Africa to reach India during WWII. She had many short anecdotes about her experiences in India. I'm sure I only heard the good ones. Every time I see a nature show with flying fish I think of that.

[@LimeyLassen]

The research on this is impressive. But so is the production! This is holistically good content.

[@toxicperson8936]

You’re videos are always the best. They get me thinking about things I’ve never really thought about. The idea of a fish gliding above the water for almost full minute blows my mind. I assumed they just kind of jumped out of the water for a second or 2, then jumped in. So fascinating. Would love to hear you speak about sea snakes or sea turtles, as their the only marine reptiles still around. As well as manatees or the siren family in general.

[@CMZneu]

You are forgetting marine iguanas and saltwater crocodiles(kinda).

[@toxicperson8936]

@@CMZneu both of those don’t spend most of their time in the ocean though

[@CMZneu]

@@toxicperson8936 Neither do polar bears or many pinnipeds yet they are still considered marine mammals, hell marine iguanas probably go into the ocean more times a day than walruses.

[@Funkiotologist]

I love how obscure you get with some of these topics. Keep up the great work bro! ❤

[@forgotten1s]

This has been a massive question of mine forever

[@objective_psychology]

The flying halfbeaks are a perfect example of *parallel* evolution, not just convergent: independently developing similar innovations from the same genetic starting point in their common ancestor. Some of their preexisting features predisposed them long-term to specializing in “flight”.

[@MrMemelord00]

Best channel for evolution of videos

[@TheLetterJ-c8n]

What convinced you of evolution? I still don't see how populations can be possible.

[@MrMemelord00]

@@TheLetterJ-c8n one word: adaptation

[@MrMemelord00]

If something can adapt it can change there's your evolution

[@MrMemelord00]

Take that scale it up to thousands of tiny changes over hundreds of millions of years and anything is possible

[@TheLetterJ-c8n]

@@MrMemelord00 How can self producing single cell organisms do that though? No new information is getting transferred.

[@jodo7814]

Oldest living gliding animal with a backbone. The real airforce 1.

[@nelsonngcebetsha3127]

am I the only one who thinks this man voice is soothing? I play these when I'm about to sleep

[@THEEGOBLINNE]

Lets GOOOOO, I had always hoped you'd release a video on flying fish...

[@Zveebo]

Babe, wake up - Moth Light Media has just dropped another absolute banger

[@Forbiddenzone80]

I love you're videos, keep it up. you inspired me to go into ecology.

[@Fossil_Blade]

Fish: im evolving wings to escale predators! Bird: 🤫🧏

[@jornahpee]

moth light media is the fucking best

[@GreenLeafUponTheSky]

Damn watch your language

[@issa9322]

Babe wake up new mothlight media posted

[@bramstedt8997]

First time I watch each new video, I have to be careful to not watch it in bed. I want all the facts but I also rewatch them to help fall asleep

[@lauravansanten7804]

Good to know I'm not the only one doing this!! Hahaha

[@leviathan6220]

I'd love to see an episode about flying squid

[@dronesclubhighjinks]

Already the first minute of this video was already more interesting than anything I’ve seen in weeks! 🤯 This channel is remarkable. Thank you very much for the video! 🙏🌊🐟 Edit: clarity

[@fafnirbane]

I always thought gliding fish were on the verge to go full on bird. Could the fact that they've evolved this many times and still not made the leap in millions of years suggest there's not enough of a benefit to flight in the ecosystems they evolved in?

[@matthewbromm7552]

incredible video man thankyou

[@m136dalie]

Another great video. Love the style and the content

[@ThePhysicalReaction]

Did you know some birds, despite not having gills like a fish, learned to swim? A modern swimming bird is the penguin, who can hold their farts for 45 minutes, and are unable to remove their tuxedos without dying.

[@omnius1357]

brilliant!

[@jasiucasic]

🤥

[@theoteddy9665]

what about fe a duck?🤷it can swim...

[@zoltanperei4789]

Do crabs think fish can fly? Do common fish think flying fish is an astronaut?

[@SIK_Mephisto]

Some crabs can swim

[@jonnyqwst]

@@SIK_Mephistoyeah well dolphins used to drive cars

[@jss1121]

The idea that these fishes may share the skies with birds in a couple millions of years is kinda funny

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

Once on a offshore fishing trip the boat went through a school of flying fishes (actually they were always seen, just not this close), one took to the air and soaring about 2 feet from my head looking each other in the eyes for about 100 meters.

[@Lizardboy-111]

They loved during the triassic?! Wow i guess you learn something new every day

[@schizophrenic_rambler]

Can fish love?

[@christopherfeatherley]

In the video, it explains modern day flying fishes aren't closely related to the ones in the Triassic ones. It's another case of convergent evolution. Still, it's pretty neat to see this particular niche occur again!

[@macaconheiro]

​@@schizophrenic_rambler It seems someone never watched Finding Nemo

[@WaterShowsProd]

I see that Thoracopteridae also have the convergent pronunciation anomoly with "helicopter" where "ptera" has been split and the silent P becoming pronounced, so rather than being read as Thoraco-pteridae, it becomes Thora-cop-teridae. There's a linguistic word for that, but I can't remember what it is. Anyway, fascinating video as always. My sister-in-law was on a research ship and encountered schools of flying fish off the coast of Africa.

[@robodude145]

birds saw flying fish and were like "yeah we can do that, but better" and they were right

[@myboysd5772]

Then the weird hairless apes came along and thought "We can do that even better" and they proceeded to bomb the sh*t out of each other with their new neat inventions.

[@Garbagegoose344]

Thank you for your videos mothman

[@brunoalejandroandrades354]

Love your videos, each and every one is a banger, 10/10. But please bring the intro back:((((

[@TheWildlifeBrothers]

This was fascinating, and your information is top notch.

[@christopherholder9925]

This was impressively informative; thank you.

[@johngoodwin9606]

I recall seeing a TV show that described a bird species that primarily eats flying fish. They watch for schools of tuna and other predatory fish and follow them. Once the flying fish are found by the tuna, they "take off and glide" allowing the birds to easily grab them.

[@AphidKirby]

I loooooove flying fish!! Loved learning more about them thank you for making such great vids!

[@defectpawn7194]

I come back to this channel and some others frequently to restore my sanity.

[@Grrrr3FKAGrrrrGrrrrGrrrr]

This is my favourite palaeontology channel

[@alexshapiro9841]

Still it's so mind blowing to imagine the beginning of this evolution: some small fish leapt out of the water to avoid a predator, and stayed just 20ms longer in the air because it had a slightly elongated fins, but that was just enough to survive. And that process repeated a countless number of times.

[@benbowland]

Please please please bring back your intro! It’s so nice

[@КостяЗозуля-е3я]

Thank you for covering that topic

[@pblobster4936]

Up next, Evolution of the Flying Squid

[@paulcateiii]

another interesting video - thank you

[@AnkanBob]

great evolution boys

[@definitelynotnickiminaj5391]

keep uploading your vids are the best❤️

[@nightlight0x07cc]

"Normal Fish" is such a funny phrase to hear on this channel xD

[@nicksystermann1558]

Face it: he included "Guizhouichthyosaurus" just because he wanted to show off his impressive pronounciation skills.

[@이동연-c6d]

Please make an evolution of paddlefish and eel.

[@Cheesepuff8]

Imagine if they evolved to fly out the water and almost never go back in I guess by convergently evolving similar traits to Swifts and insects like Mayflies

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

Future is Wild.

[@pac1fic055]

I’ve seen them in action. They are astonishing. Couldn’t believe my eyes.

[@vinniepeterss]

excellent as always!

[@connorpratt4874]

Great video as always but please bring intro back🙏

[@RaikoTechnologies]

Do a video on stingrays\mantas, they are kinda flying underwater and some can jump-off similar to flying fish

[@MrBargill]

They are a great delicacy in Barbados and Trinidad...

[@shanerooney7288]

> * *Looks at Thumbnail* * > "Is..... is that a _flying Dunkleosteus!"_

[@wholesome2399]

Can't watch it rn, but love the concept of the video! Can't wait

[@kotarojujo2737]

so both preys and predators evolved convergently ( Thoracopteridae vs ichtyosaur and modern flying fish vs cetacean)

[@petrfedor1851]

We just ignored And oportunisty to call them ekranofish

[@BaneofBots]

8:30 Did bro just get got? 😂😂

[@takenname8053]

But will they ever develop powered flight? Like in the The Future is Wild?

[@uhohspaghettios3801]

4:45 bro basically said "being more efficient allows them to be more efficient" 😂

[@bradlcnm]

Ahh, convergent (and divergent) evolution - I have noticed mammals, reptiles, birds and fish each have a form for air, sea and land!

[@pkre707]

I wonder if this will be only an intermittent evolutionary step, and in a few million years fish will be competing with birds in the sky!

[@ExtremeMadnessX]

Future is Wild.

[@opcn18]

I was hoping to hear some mention of Amazonian hatchet fish in this. They also have pectoral fins high on their bodies and while they don't glide over hundreds of meters they are adept at aiming for small openings and leaping through them.

[@hughmongus6191]

Yay new video.

[@Titus-as-the-Roman]

I wonder if the large Game fish Wahoo is related to this group, they kind of resemble them structurally & they frequently will leave the water for a good flight.

[@toxicperson8936]

Would it be possible, after millions & millions of years, flying fish could evolve to be able to fully fly? I know flying fish existed before flying reptiles or birds, but considering birds evolved to live on land before (amphibians), it seems possible that they’d be able to learn to fly after many years of evolution. I’d love to see what fully flying fish would look like.

[@wilfdarr]

My feeling is no: using water as your propulsive medium is far more energy efficient than using air alone. My feeling is that the reason birds don't do this on land with their legs is because any unevenness in the ground would break legs, wings, etc, where if you biff it into the sea the only thing hurt is your pride: I think it would take a significant evolutionary pressure to overcome this road block.

[@nathanolds6863]

It’s certainly possible but there’s no real evolutionary pressure to do so.

[@SunSheepOfLight]

In 200 million years Flying Fish will take the place of birds.

[@PalaeoJoe]

The Future is Wild!

[@SunSheepOfLight]

@@PalaeoJoe Yes.

[@limjimmer2828]

While you are on fish you should explore the sturgeon. It's a fascinating lineage!

[@monostripeexplosiveexplora2374]

that is darn cool

[@AnnoyingNewsletters]

*_THORACOPTERIDAE_* ⁉️ 🚁🚁🚁 Well played, Science, well played. 😂

[@MichelZongo-q3r]

I love this video

[@ashgonza92]

NO WAY these things are real. seriously might be my favorite animal now. the symbolism is amazing.

[@natquesenberry6368]

The fish in the thumb nail looks like an African butterfly fish. (Pantodon bucholzi.)It has a similarly large head and mouth. Butterfly fish can only make short hops and not closely related to real flying fish.

[@stepanov93]

How did plants and animals evolved to have toxins/poisons? How do they know that certain chemical will potentially kill the animal that is trying to eat that plant? How do those animals know in the end not to eat that plant because it's toxic, when the poison developed for thousands of years incrementaly and slowly? Is it possible that mutations in plants randomly create certain toxins or is there a different mechanism? Maybe an idea for future video, if not too much on the genetics and biochemistry side for the topics you aim at. (Btw, huge, huge, huge fan of the channel😊)

[@edgargaebolg9307]

Species don't "know" if something is beneficial for them or not. If a plant species developed toxins it means that the specimens with toxins had more chances to survive than the ones without them. As for animals eating them, it's basically the same we humans did: if someone eats it and dies maybe you shouldn't eat it

[@fwWill]

Tuff video as always

[@liberalpacifist3263]

I wonder if this observed evolutionary convergence has any bearing on the evolution of flight in bugs.

[@LimeyLassen]

Bug wings are still largely a mystery.

[@WaterShowsProd]

I was just wondering the same thing.

[@demos113]

Excellent. 🙂

[@alveolate]

the family tree at 0:52 and 7:25 has a pretty massive typo for the scientific name... it should be _Exocoetidae_ not Excoteidae

[@stupidmangoz]

Last time I was this early, animals didn't even have jaws