New Delhi: Researchers have found a blind cavefish that walks and climbs waterfalls, offering some clues about the evolution of life on Earth.


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Researchers from the New Jersey Institute of Technology discovered the amazing creature inside caves located in the Tham Maelana and the Tham Susa karst cave formation in northern Thailand.


The blind fish, named Cryptotora thamicola, could walk on land and even climb waterfalls using its salamander-like limbs in the same way as a tetrapod, or a four-footed mammal or amphibian.



Researchers were stunned by the discovery since no other fish has been found yet with these anatomical features.


CT scans revealed some distinctive, yet astonishing things about Cryptotora thamicola, also known as the cave angel fish's skeletal structure, including a pelvis that is attached to the vertebrae by long, rib-like bones.


“From an evolutionary perspective, this is a huge finding,” NJIT Department of Biological Sciences assistant professor Brooke Flammang was quoted as saying.


The research has been published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.