Permian Fish

Fish are known to have evolved in the early oceans long before the Permian period. Older fossil finds such as those at the Devonian-age Canowindra site in NSW provide clear evidence of the presence of abundant fish-life.  Fish lived in the Permian ocean but their fossil record is surprisingly sparse. In Tasmania it is currently limited to a few scales and bones at a single site in the north-east of the state.  Why are there so few fish fossils?  Perhaps it reflects the preservation conditions at the time and there just aren’t any; perhaps we just need to keep looking?
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